Miraculous Moments
by shmulia
Summary: A series of unrelated drabbles for the love square. A mixture of fluff, angst, headcanons and in-show moments.
1. Wanna bet?

"Wanna bet?"

He'd heard her say those words more times than he could count. Ladybug would growl them in the midst of a battle, eyes narrowed at cocky akumas who had the arrogance to think that they could defeat her.

She'd say them with a grin in Chat Noir's direction whenever there was the slimmest opportunity for competition between them, challenges which started with a suggestion that he could outrun her, or distract the akuma more effectively.

Then there were the moments of disbelief, when Chat couldn't see a way for their situation to get any worse. Apparently vocalizing that sentiment was the wrong thing to do, because every damn time Ladybug would turn to him, concern lining her face, and reluctantly laugh. "Wanna bet?"

Or, sometimes, when they were being mobbed by the press, all singing her praises and telling her that she was amazing (a sentiment which Chat Noir agreed with wholeheartedly), he'd hear her murmur the words under her breath with a tinge of bitterness, too quietly for anyone to hear. He wasn't sure if the words were meant for his ears, but he could hear them nonetheless -always spoken just before she'd jump away, back to her everyday life which he wished he knew her in.

Chat Noir had heard Ladybug say that single phrase over and over, in every tone imaginable. He knew how it sounded when she was angry, laughing, and every emotion in between.

So when Adrien Agreste sat in his classroom, listening to Chloé rant that Chat Noir was useless, and that Ladybug didn't need him whatsoever, his head snapped around like a shot when Marinette - whose voice suddenly sounded very, very familiar - growled at the blonde girl.

"Wanna bet?"


	2. Tell me a secret

"Tell me a secret," Chat Noir says, his voice breaking the comfortable silence in Marinette's room. She looks up from the skirt she's sewing, patches of material surrounding her like soft pink lily pads on the wooden floorboards. She hums in response, a questioning eyebrow arching up at Chat's words as she twists her head to face him.

"A secret?" Marinette asks. "What kind of secret, kitty?"

He's sitting on her bed, legs crossed as he watches her work, the two of them happy in each other's company. It's an odd friendship, both would admit, but it works for them.

But there are moments, small, blink and you'll miss them moments, when Chat Noir is sure Marinette is hiding something. And while he'd never be presumptuous enough to assume he knows everything about her, he can feel the weight of something pressing on her, can see it in those minutes when she thinks nobody will notice the exhaustion in her eyes.

So he decides to ask. It can't hurt, after all.

"Your deepest, darkest secret," he grins, trying to keep the atmosphere light. Marinette blinks, her face unreadable, and Chat Noir's eyes widen as he worries he's crossed some unspoken line. He watches as Marinette pushes her needle in the pincushion by her side and places the skirt-in-progress carefully on the floor, standing up with her back to him as she thinks about the request.

 _I'm Ladybug, I'm Ladybug, I'm Ladybug!_ her thoughts screech, answering his question in her mind only. Out loud, Marinette lets out a "hmmm", tapping her chin with her finger as she considers her choices, the other hand placed on her hip. An idea hits her, and she spins around to face Chat.

"Well," she says, moving towards him, "I guess I do have _one_ secret." When Marinette reaches the bed she stops, leaning forward so that she and Chat Noir are at eye level, a grin spreading on her face. Chat cocks his head to the side, raising his eyebrows whilst trying to keep himself from leaning forward oh-so-slightly and bridging the gap between their lips, because _that's not why you're here, Chat, but god she's beautiful_ …

"What's that?" he asks, and he's appalled at how breathy his voice has become. He's sure Marinette notices it too, because her grin falters slightly, eyes widening in surprise as his usually smooth words come out in a whisper. She recovers instantly, the smirk back on her face before a heartbeat has passed. Chat Noir stops breathing as Marinette tilts her head to match him.

"I guess my biggest secret is…" Marinette pauses, and Chat's eyes are locked on hers, not noticing her hand slowly rising up to his chest. "… _you,"_ she giggles, flicking the bell around Chat's neck and cracking the building intensity with the chimes of her laughter. She pulls back, and Chat lets out the breath he's been holding.

"Me?" He says, one hand instinctively running through his hair as he smirks at Marinette. She rolls her eyes before placing one finger under his chin and scratching softly.

"Yes, you," she says, amusement evident in her tone. "Not every girl has one of Paris' superheroes coming round her house for cookies every other day, you know. It's quite a big thing to keep secret."

Chat Noir purrs as she tickles his chin, enjoying the display of affection. He's not sure she's told him the truth, but she knows _just_ the spot to tickle and he's too distracted to care. When her finger moves away his smile drops into a pout, causing Marinette to let out a laugh. The mattress on the bed squeaks as she takes a seat next to him, folding her legs and leaning against the wall, back against the pillows. Chat Noir shuffles to face her, keeping his chin slightly raised on the off-chance of more scratches. Marinette leans her elbows on her knees, and places her chin in her palms.

"Okay then - your turn." Marinette smiles, and Chat's eyes widen, hands tightening around the sheet hugging the mattress.

"My turn?"

Marinette nods. "You can't ask a girl to tell her deepest, _darkest_ secret and not expect to tell your own, Chat."

His mouth drops open slightly, and thinks of a thousand things that he wants to tell her _,_ but each secret comes with its own set of reasons why telling Marinette is a dangerous idea.

And as he tries to come up with something, _anything_ which he can tell Marinette which won't put her in harm's way, his ring begins to beep; a sound he usually hates, because it means it's time to be Adrien once more, is a melody to his ears. He looks down at the ring, the one toe remaining on the cat's paw flickering, before meeting Marinette's gaze. She nods, knowing what the sound means.

"Saved by the beeps." She rolls her eyes. "You'll just have to tell me next time."

Chat Noir nods, moving off the bed towards the entrance to Marinette's balcony. He winks, saluting to her as he takes the first step up the ladder.

"Will do, Princess. I'll see you soon!" Goodbyes said, Chat Noir wastes no time in shimmying up the ladder to her balcony and leaping away.

As the buildings of Paris blur around him, Chat Noir thinks about what he'll tell Marinette. He has to come up with something, because the two things he wants to tell her, he can't.

 _I'm Adrien. Surprise!_

No, that would put her in danger. He dismisses the thought instantly, as much as he longs to tell her the truth.

But the other secret, one which he's trying to keep even from himself, rolls through his mind as he slips into his own bedroom, de-transforming and catching Plagg as he moves to sit by his laptop.

 _I thought I loved Ladybug._

 _But when you smile, I'm not so sure anymore._


	3. I can't do this without you

"You need to wake up - I can't do this without you!" Ladybug cried, shaking the shoulders of an unconscious Chat Noir. She was kneeling over him, blinking backs tears as he didn't stir.

"Come _on,"_ she pleaded, "this one's too strong, I need you! Chat, _please-"_

She was cut off as she heard the screams which signaled that the akuma was getting closer; Ladybug knew she shouldn't have run, should have kept fighting, but Chat had just been _lying_ there, vulnerable and in harm's way. She wasn't even sure what the akuma had done to him; a beam of light had hit him, and her partner had dropped to the floor like lead.

Sheer panic had set in, and Ladybug had managed to distract the akuma long enough to check on Chat Noir. He was still breathing, thank god, but Ladybug didn't know what exactly what the beam had done to him - so far, only Chat had been hit by it, and she couldn't figure out of he was seriously hurt. All she knew was that Chat Noir hadn't been the intended target, and he was once again hurt because he'd protected her. Her back had been turned, pushing Alya away from the fight, and she'd let her guard down. Chat had noticed and leapt in front of her, taking the hit.

The least she could do was keep him safe.

So she'd thrown him over her shoulder and fled, hoping that she could outrun the akuma for a few minutes. Jumping to the only safe place she could think of, she'd propped Chat's prone form up against the wall of the balcony above the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Her partner didn't stir at all, a dead weight in her arms as she carefully maneuvered him into a comfortable position.

"Wake up," Ladybug begged with increasing urgency, cupping Chat's face between her palms and lifting it to hers. "I don't know how to fight this one. I need you by my side, so please, wake _up_!"

There was no reaction, and there was no longer any time; Ladybug could hear the akuma, its large footsteps echoing as it moved through the streets of Paris. Ladybug took a deep breath, steeling herself to fight as her partner remained unmoving.

"I'll come back for you," she whispered, pressing a kiss against his forehead before carefully letting his head loll onto his chest. "I'll make this right, I promise. You're going to be okay." She straightened up, turning to scan her surroundings. Her eyes locked on the akuma, tall against the surrounding buildings, and fury welled up withing her.

She threw her yo-yo up into the air, letting it latch onto the building in front of her. Her eyes narrowed in anger as she leapt from the balcony.

She had a score to settle.


	4. Wait a minute - Are you jealous?

"Wait a minute. Are you jealous?" Nino whispered, grabbing his best friend and pulling him behind the wall by the school stairs. Adrien's eyes widened as he was unceremoniously dragged .

"What? No! I mean - what?"

Nino grinned, nodding his head towards Marinette and Alya, who were laughing as they began to walk in the opposite direction to the boys hidden behind the wall.

"You've been in a bad mood since Alya started grilling Marinette about that dude she refuses to talk about. And given the fact you've been staring at Marinette non-stop since we've been walking from class like she's the most interesting thing in the universe, I think that _someone_ is jealous of her mystery man!" Nino waggled his eyebrows at Adrien, who looked down at the ground in an attempt to avoid the knowing grin on Nino's face.

"I have _not_ been in a bad mood," he protested, shoving his hands into the pockets of his jeans.

"…Dude, are you _pouting?"_

"No!"

Nino smirked. "It sure _looks_ like a pout. And I don't hear any denial about a certain green-eyed monster in regards to a certain pigtailed cutie," Nino grinned. Adrien raised an eyebrow.

"Pigtailed cutie?"

Nino shrugged. "Am I wrong?"

"Well, no, but-"

"So you _do_ think she's cute!"

Adrien blinked as Nino put his hands on his hips and puffed out his chest, clearly proud of his incredible deduction. Adrien slapped his hand against his forehead as his shoulders sagged, leaning against the wall as he did so.

"Yes, Marinette is cute, Nino, but I'm not jealous of her seeing someone else. I swear it."

"…Dude. You're _so_ jealous."

Adrien sighed. Sometimes lying to Nino was pointless.

"Okay. I'm jealous. I shouldn't be, though." Adrien sighed, scuffing the front of his shoe on the ground. Nino's grin slid away, and he scratched the back of his head as he tried to think of a way to comfort Adrien.

"Hey, it's alright. By the sounds of it, whatever Marinette has with this guy can't last - I mean, she can't even talk to Alya about him, what kind of relationship is _that_?"

Nino didn't notice how Adrien's face paled slightly, or the hurt which flashed through his best friend's eyes as Nino threw his arm over his shoulder.

"I- you're right. Thanks, Nino." Adrien said, forcing himself to sound positive, a half-smile on his face. Nino nodded, satisfied with his efforts at comfort.

"No problem, bro! Now come on, we don't wanna be late to Alix and Kim's re-match!"

Adrien nodded, plastering a smile onto his face as they began to move away from the secluded area the wall of the steps provided. He knew Nino was trying to help, but the tight feeling in his chest hadn't been calmed by his best friend's words.

He _knew_ that he shouldn't be jealous of the way Marinette blushed when she laughingly shook off Alya's questions about her mystery guy, or the way she smiled when she would divulge the tiniest bit of information; he knew she shouldn't be jealous of how _happy_ she was with him. Especially when Adrien _was_ the guy in question - kind of.

It was just… he wanted her to be like that about _Adrien_ , not Chat Noir. Whatever it was she and Chat had now, this tumultuous friendship which sometimes felt like so much more, meant a lot to Adrien. And he wanted Marinette to know that it was _him_ , that the boy sitting in front of her every day was the same one who spent evenings laughing with her on her balcony.

Adrien was jealous that it was Chat Noir who Marinette was being teased about, even if Alya and Nino didn't know it. He wanted Marinette to avoid Alya's questions about _him,_ his average, everyday self. He wanted to spend hours talking in her room, eating pastries which she would sneak up for him, without wearing a mask.

He wanted her to know all of him, not just the small bits of himself he gave in both parts of his life. And, most of all, he wanted her to look at him in the same way she did Chat Noir, when she thought he didn't notice. That soft, sweet smile which melted Adrien's heart a little more every time he saw it.

It was ridiculous, Adrien thought as he and Nino walked towards the Trocadéro; he was actually jealous of _himself._


	5. Have you lost your damn mind?

"Have you lost your damn _mind!?_ "

It's not what Ladybug expects to say when she speaks to Adrien for the first time as her superhero self; she always imagined that, should they ever meet, she would be cool, or suave, or flirty. As Marinette, she knows she's awkward around him, but as Ladybug… the possibilities had been endless in her imagination.

Sadly, reality doesn't quite live up to her expectations. And, by the look of shock on his face, Adrien's expectations had been pretty different too.

Because in her head, Ladybug would save the day, say something witty, and leave Adrien starstruck. Instead, she's snapping at him because he put himself in harm's way and she only _just_ made it in time to prevent him becoming part of the akuma's statue collection.

 _I did make it, though. He's alright,_ Ladybug thinks, taking a breath to calm herself. She's feeling a level of stress usually reserved for when Chloé is involved in an akuma attack - which is on a semi-regular basis, so the experience isn't exactly new - and is getting in the way of Ladybug and Chat Noir's work.

She never expected _Adrien_ to be an issue during a battle. He's usually absent when akumas were around (a pretty impressive talent in her opinion, considering most of the akumas are their classmates), which had always been a source of relief to the superheroine.

So when she saw him, charging towards the akuma to keep its eyes away from his - _their_ \- friends, she'd been surprised, to say the least. She'd seen the akuma take aim, and had only just managed to grab him, swinging from her yo-yo, before he was turned to stone by the Ceramicator.

Ladybug pulled him to the rooftop of Le Grand Paris (all too aware that _she's carrying Adrien Agreste oh my god oh my god oh my god)_ , landing carefully by the pool before releasing Adrien and snapping at him, fear and stress causing her words to sting.

But now he's just standing there, looking at her in complete shock - probably because of the cursing, Ladybug thinks - and she doesn't know how to react to this turn of events. Deciding that yelling at her crush probably isn't the best idea in the world, she shakes her head and places one hand on her hip as she rubs her forehead with the other.

"I'm sorry, that was rude of me. I'm a bit stressed at the minute," she says, gesturing behind her to where she's left the akuma, a wry smile playing on her lips as he continues to stare at her. "What you did - trying to distract the Ceramicator - that was really brave, but next time just run, ok?" She grins at him. "You'll put me out of a job otherwise!"

Her grin turns into a frown of concern as Adrien doesn't move, the only indication that he isn't one of the akuma's statues being the occasional blink as he gapes at her, eyes wide with awe.

Ladybug winces as she hears shouts from the street, and starts to whirl her yo-yo as she takes a step back.

"You'll be safe here, so head inside and stay there - your friends got away, so you don't need to try and tackle the akuma on your own." She gives him a wave and a smile before twisting away from him, walking towards the edge of the roof and wishing she had a better speech to end on than a _lecture_.

"Ladybug!" she hears him call, and she pauses to look back at him. His arm is outstretched, as if to stop her, and drops to his side awkwardly as she turns back around. His other hand shoots to the back of his head, and a shy smile forms on his face as he looks to the ground, then back up at her.

"Thank you - for saving me," he says, and Ladybug is shocked to see a faint pink stain start to spread on his cheeks. She bites back a grin, and winks at him.

"No problem, handsome," she says, seizing the opportunity to say something which Marinette can't, and blows him a kiss before throwing her yo-yo upwards. "See you round!"

She only has time to see his jaw drop at the compliment before she leaps away, back to the akuma and (hopefully) her partner, if he's arrived yet.

Ladybug's all smiles for the rest of the fight after managing to leave Adrien starstruck (a feeling she's all too familiar with when she's around _him_ ).

And if Chat Noir seems to be even cheerier than usual when he turns up to the fight, baton twirling as he lands beside his lady, she doesn't notice - she's in too good of a mood herself.


	6. Teach me how to play?

"Teach me how to play?"

Marinette had said it as a joke; she'd been talking to Alya about wanting to learn the piano before class started, and Nino had turned to the pair, grinning mischievously.

"You know who's great at the piano?" Nino nodded to the boy sitting next to him before wither of the girls could answer. "Adrien! He's been learning since he was a kid!" Adrien looked round to Nino at the mention of his name. His arm draped around the back of his seat as he turned to face Marinette, smiling warmly as he entered the conversation.

"Really, Adrien?" Alya asked, propping her head in her palm as she leaned on the table.

"I mean, I wouldn't say I was _great_ ," Adrien replied with a laugh, "but I've been learning for about eight years, so I know what I'm doing."

Nino snorted. ″Not great my ass!" He rolled his eyes at the two girls, pointing to Adrien with his thumb. "I've heard him play - he's amazing."

Marinette smiled, arms folded on the desk as she leaned forward slightly. She was starting to get more comfortable around Adrien, when she was with Alya and Nino at least, and she'd said the words with a laugh in her voice.

"Teach me how to play?"

She hadn't expected him to say _yes_.

Which is how she found herself at one of the most prestigious music schools in Paris sharing a piano seat with Adrien Agreste, who was earnestly explaining the basics of piano playing.

Marinette was trying to pay attention, she really was. But he was sitting so _close_ , and now and again his arm would brush against hers as he stretched along the piano keys, and it took everything she had not to start hyperventilating at each accidental touch.

 _Breathe, Marinette,_ she thought. _Just keep breathing, and you'll be fi- why is he staring at me? Oh god. What did he just say? Damn it Marinette, why weren't you listening?_

Adrien was looking at her, eyebrows raised in concern as she blinked at him, trying to figure out what he had just told her.

"Marinette? Are you okay?" he asked when she didn't respond after a moment.

She let out an awkward laugh, a hand instinctively tugging at one of the locks of hair which fell in front of her ear.

"Yes! I'm fine! Sorry, I got a bit… lost with the explanation. It's - it's a lot to take in," she replied, gesturing to the instrument in front of her. Adrien nodded, and Marinette let out an inaudible sigh of relief that he'd bought the excuse.

"That's understandable. I've been going through everything pretty fast - where did you get lost? I can go over it again, if you want." Adrien smiled kindly at her, one hand leaning on the small section of seat next to him, and Marinette waved her hands in response, flapping them wildly as she shook her head.

"No, no, it's okay! I just, uh, need a minute to let it all sink in!" Her eyes darted around the room before landing on Adrien's face, watching her with a smile. She laughed nervously, and an idea popped into her head.

"Would - would you play something?" Marinette asked, looking at the piano in front of them. She turned back to face Adrien, enthusiasm lighting up her eyes. "I'd love to hear what you can do!" She paused for a second. "Please?"

Adrien blinked at the abrupt change in topic. "I guess - I mean, I can if you really want," he replied, pushing himself forward slightly and straightening up as he faced the piano. "But are you sure you don't want to keep-"

"Nope! It's all yours!" Marinette said cheerily. She shot out of the seat to the other end of the piano, putting some distance between her and Adrien. She leaned forward to rest on the lid of the piano, smiling at him encouragingly. Adrien blinked back at her, a mixture of confusion and surprise on his face at the sudden movement. He shrugged, shaking off his confusion and letting a small smile grow on his face at Marinette's enthusiasm.

Adrien moved to the center of the bench and straightened his posture, relaxing his arms from the shoulder as his fingers arched above the piano keys. His gaze darted quickly to Marinette, who'd linked her fingers together and placed her chin on them, leaning on the piano and watching him in anticipation. He took a deep breath, looked back at the piano, and began to play.

Nino had been right; Adrien _was_ great. Marinette watched as he fell into the music, the notes filling the room like sunshine filtering through a window, surrounding the pair of them and calming the chaotic world outside.

Marinette couldn't look away as Adrien played, his hair falling so that his eyes were hidden from her as he looked down at the ivory keys, his concentration never faltering as the melody's difficulty increased as he gracefully caressed the keys. She shut her eyes, and let the slowly crescendoing notes wash over her, the melody a wave building in intensity before it finally crested.

The last note echoed through the room sooner than Marinette expected; she opened her eyes, and saw Adrien look up at her, smiling shyly. Marinette lifted her head from her hands and shook it softly, mouth open in a smile filled with admiration.

"That was amazing," she said, her voice quiet with reverence as she gazed at him, eyes wide. Adrien shrugged, one hand reaching to scratch the back of his head as he looked down at his knees.

"Thanks. I've had a lot of practice," he replied, a smile growing at the honesty in Marinette's voice as she complimented him. "Now come on. Your go." Adrien shuffled back to the side, patting the spot next to him. Marinette shook her head fiercely.

"Uh-uh. No way I'm following that!" Marinette said, raising her hands and backing away from the piano. Adrien chuckled before pushing the bench back, scraping it along the wooden floor, and standing up. He walked towards Marinette and took her hands, still raised in the air, gently pulling her back to the piano. She followed his lead, and Adrien grinning at her as he walked backwards towards the seat, twisting away from her only to sit back down. He let go of one of Marinette's hands, keeping hold of the other as she placed herself next to him.

Adrien squeezed Marinette's hand reassuringly before releasing it, turning to face her with a reassuring smile.

"So where exactly did you get lost in the explanation?" He asked, raising his chin towards the piano. Marinette scrunched her nose as she thought back to Adrien's explanation, raising a finger when the last thing she recalled came to her.

"You were showing me chords!" she exclaimed. Adrien nodded, straightening his posture once more.

"Okay, great! We'll start with C - you need to place your fingers here, and here," he said, demonstrating with his own hands. Marinette copied the pose, arching her fingers and imitating Adrien's posture, a gesture which didn't go unnoticed by him.

"That's perfect, Marinette!" Adrien said, genuine enthusiasm in his voice. "We'll make a pianist of you yet! Now come on," he grinned, nudging Marinette gently with his elbow. "Let's make some music."


	7. Hey! I was going to eat that!

"Hey! I was going to eat that!" Adrien whined, staring forlornly at the cookie which had so nearly been in his grasp. His hand was outstretched, ready to take the delicious baked good, before the plate had been moved out of his reach.

Marinette turned to look at him, surprise on her face. He hadn't expected his plea to sound quite so desperate either - but he'd been eyeing up the food in the bakery whilst Marinette had cleaned her room before he was allowed in for another gaming session, and when Tom and Sabine had stuck their heads through the trap door with a plate of cookies, his heart had soared.

Her parents had even put the cookies next to him before Marinette had glared at them until they left the room. As the sweet smell wafted towards him, Adrien wondered if Tom and Sabine would consider adopting him.

The memory of Tom's quiche from a few days before drifted through Adrien's mind, and Adrien hoped Marinette wouldn't notice him drooling as he gazed longingly at the delectable goods. And he'd been so, so ready to taste one, his hand reaching out to take a particularly chocolaty cookie from the top of the pile when Marinette, without a care in the world, had scooped up the plate and moved it away from him. She hadn't noticed Adrien's need for delectable cookie goodness as she spun her chair to place the plate to the other side of the computer. And so a whine escaped Adrien before he could stop it, a desperate plea for something which was just out of his reach - literally.

Marinette blinked in shock as she spun her chair round to face Adrien, the plate of cookies grasped in her hands.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! Here!" Marinette squeaked, thrusting the baked goods towards Adrien. His face lit up as he surveyed the golden discs which had dots of chocolate speckled throughout; they all looked so _good_. He picked the one he'd been admiring a moment before, still warm to the touch as he lifted it off it's cookie counterparts. Marinette put the plate down between them, a move which Adrien was incredibly grateful for; the cookies were now in easy reach.

"Thanks!" he grinned, before taking a bite. Adrien hummed happily as he ate the cookie, the taste of which was perfection: it was sweet, but not overly so, the melted chocolate balancing perfectly with the vanilla of the biscuit. He devoured the cookie, sighing when he'd finished.

"Marinette, your dad is an amazing baker," Adrien said, a content smile gracing his lips as he leaned back in the chair, taking hold of the controller as the game's SELECT PLAYER 2 flashed on screen.

"Uh, actually, I baked these," Marinette replied quietly, eyes locked on the desk in front of her as her finger traced patterns on the desk, her other hand gripping her controller. "I put them in the oven before you arrived. I guess Papa thought we'd appreciate them more than the customers," she said as she quickly glanced at Adrien, a shy smile on her face.

Adrien's mouth dropped open in awe before he returned Marinette's smile, holding the controller in one hand as he reached for another cookie.

"Wait, you made these? Marinette, they're fantastic!" Adrien exclaimed, taking a bite of the cookie and holding back a moan of delight at the soft, sweet taste of the vanilla and chocolate. When he'd swallowed the delicious treat Adrien looked over at Marinette, who was eating a cookie herself, and grinned.

"Seriously, these are amazing. I could eat them forever!" Adrien winked at her. "Marry me so that I can?"

He hadn't expected Marinette to start _choking._


	8. The paint's supposed to go where?

"The paint's supposed to go _where?_ " Marinette asked, a look of disbelief on her face as she placed one hand on her hip, the other holding a long paint roller. Nino, Adrien and Alya stood behind her, also wielding rollers and wearing expressions of confusion.

Théo twiddled his toothpick between his thumb and forefinger, sighing.

"The ceiling. Everything else will be painted tomorrow, so today has been put aside for the ceiling." Théo sounded exasperated, like he knew exactly what Marinette was going to say next. Which, given her question, he probably did.

"Then why don't we have any ladders? Or longer rollers which can actually reach the ceiling?" She asked, gesturing to the empty room. Théo replaced the toothpick in his mouth, shrugging.

"There seems to have been a mix-up on the days. I guess management thought we were painting the walls first."

"So did we," Alya pointed out. "That's why we volunteered for today!"

Volunteering to paint the classrooms of a local school had been Alya's idea. Marinette had agreed when her friend had proposed it to her, a fun day painting walls for the two of them; so when she'd arrived late to find Adrien and Nino standing alongside her best friend, Marinette had nearly screamed in surprise.

"Nino and Adrien agreed to help," Alya had winked as she slung an arm around the frozen Marinette. "It'll get the work done faster, and then we were thinking of getting some food after – a reward for hard work, you know?"

Marinette had nodded mutely, allowing herself to be led into the classroom which was waiting to be painted. Théo was waiting for them, the leader of the project, and each of the four volunteers grabbed one of the paint rollers leaning against the door frame when they walked in. Looking stressed, Théo explained the ceiling situation to the quartet who'd joined him in the empty room, with only a few paint pots adorning the material-covered floor.

"I know," Théo replied to Alya's statement, "and I'm sorry. I'm going to head over to the main office to find out what's going on. You four just wait here for a bit, I'll be back to sort this out soon."

Without giving them a chance to respond, Théo walked out of the door, shaking his head and muttering under his breath unintelligibly. The four friends looked at each other as he exited, unsure of what they were meant to do.

"So, I guess we just wait then?" Nino asked, scratching the back of his neck. Adrien nodded.

"Looks that way," he agreed, resting his arm on Nino's shoulder as his friend crossed his arms.

"He's going to be gone a while," Marinette said, looking at the door Théo had walked out of. "Maybe we should go wait somewhere else?"

There was a murmur of agreement from the boys, but Alya seemed to be surveying the room, reaching up with her roller to see how high she could reach.

"We _could_ ," Alya said, a grin growing on her face, "but I have a better idea. Hey Nino, come here for a second."

Nino raised an eyebrow before shrugging, Adrien's arm falling off his shoulder as Nino walked towards Alya.

"What's up?" he asked. Alya pointed to the ceiling.

"Well, none of us are tall enough to paint the ceiling, right?"

"Right."

"But we don't know _when_ Théo will get back - he could be ages at the main office, and we don't want to waste the day, do we?"

"Alya, where are you going with this?" Marinette asked, folding her arms as she looked at her friend suspiciously.

Alya grinned. "Well, if we can't reach the ceiling individually, we definitely could as a team. If Nino and Adrien give the two of us piggybacks, the rollers are just long enough to reach the ceiling so we can paint it!"

Adrien and Marinette looked at each other, matching looks of concern on their faces, before turning back their friends.

"Sounds fun!" Nino said to the redhead next to him. "Hey, let's make it a contest – whichever team paints the most of the ceiling wins!"

"Wins _what_?" Adrien asked, raising an eyebrow as he leaned back against the wall by the door.

Nino frowned, pursing his lips as he thought. An idea came to him, and his face lit up.

"Losers have to buy the winners ice cream!" He exclaimed, lifting a finger as he nodded in approval at his own idea.

"Okaay. But this might not be a great idea guys - what if someone gets hurt?" Adrien said tentatively. Alya waved away the concern.

"We'll be fine, we just won't run. C'mon Nino, want to take on these two?"

"Sure!" Nino replied, turning his back to Alya so he could lift her in a piggyback as she leaned her roller against a corner.

"Adrien's right, this probably isn't a good idea," Marinette said, watching Alya hop onto Nino's back. She was impressed that he only stumbled a little when before straightening up, locking his arms around Alya's thighs before passing her his roller.

"C'mon Marinette, it'll be fun!" Nino grinned as Alya waved her paint roller above her head, making sure that it touched the ceiling.

"It has to be against _some_ kind of health and safety code." Marinette tried again.

"Girl, just take a breath and get on Adrien's back so we can beat the two of you at painting this ceiling." Alya winked at Marinette, who made a cutting gesture at her throat as she looked quickly over at Adrien. He was watching Alya and Nino with one eyebrow raised, biting back a smile as he leaned against the wall.

"I mean, it's a school building, I'm sure there are ladders _somewhere_ -" Marinette continued, eyes glancing between Adrien and Alya.

"Sounds like _someone's_ worried they're gonna lose," Alya smirked, raising her eyebrows in a challenge to her best friend. Nino let out an "oooooooh" as he tilted his head to try and look up at the girl on his back, before giving up and facing Marinette.

"I guess that means we win by default, right Alya?" Nino asked, looking between Marinette and Adrien, who exchanged a glance. Adrien shook his head, moving away from the wall and towards Marinette with a small smile.

"Well, we can't have that now, can we?" Adrien winked at Marinette. "How about it? I promise I won't drop you."

Marinette waved her hands in front of her, shaking her head rapidly. "I'm really not sure-"

"C'mon girl, lighten up! Even Class Presidents have to have some fun now and again!" Alya exclaimed. Marinette threw her hands up in defeat, her shoulders sagging.

"Fine! But I'm not responsible if anyone gets hurt, okay?"

Nino and Alya nodded.

"Sounds fair," Nino agreed. "Now, get on Adrien's back so this competition can begin!"

Marinette steeled herself before putting down her roller and walking over to Adrien with determination. He smiled, turning his back to her and crouching slightly as she reached him, the paint roller gripped in one of his hands. Marinette tentatively placed her hands on his shoulders, earning her a thumbs-up from Alya which she prayed Adrien couldn't see.

"Ready?" Adrien said, looking over his shoulder at her. Marinette nodded, awkwardly grinning, and Adrien winked at her before facing Nino and Alya.

"Okay then. On the count of three - one, two, three!"

Marinette jumped, wrapping her legs around Adrien's waist as he straightened his back, her arms tightening around his shoulders while he adjusted to her weight on his back. One of his arms slipped around her thigh as he handed her the roller, and Marinette wondered if all of the good karma from saving Paris on a regular basis had been saving itself up for this day.

"Wow, that was smooth," Nino laughed as Adrien wrapped his newly freed hand around Marinette's other leg to secure her in place. "Adrien, you carry a lot of people around on your back?"

Marinette couldn't see Adrien's face from her position on his back, but could hear the laugh in his voice when he replied.

"Yeah, Nino, when I'm not modelling I'm actually a human taxi service for the people of Paris. You've discovered my secret."

"I knew it," came the reply from Adrien's best friend, as Alya and Marinette looked at each other and rolled their eyes. Alya flicked the brim on Nino's cap with her free hand.

"Well Adrien, now that we know about your secret double life, can we start this contest? I don't know how long Nino can hold me for."

"Hey!"

"Prove me wrong, Mr. DJ, prove me wrong. Okay, the rules: You guys start on that side of the ceiling, and we'll start from here," Alya gestured with her roller to opposite sides of the room. "Whoever gets to the center point first, which is marked by... that paint pot, wins."

Marinette brandished her paint roller at Alya. "Challenge accepted! But one question - what if we need to get more paint?"

Alya smirked. "Then I hope Adrien and Nino are good at balancing us while dipping rollers."

Marinette giggled at the look of fear which grew on Nino's face at Alya's words. She only got to glimpse it for a moment before Adrien was moving, carefully walking to their assigned corner so as not to jolt the girl on his back.

"That's right Agreste, run to your corner!" Nino called from the other side of the room where he was readjusting Alya into a more comfortable position. Adrien chuckled, looking over his shoulder to his friend.

"Just giving you guys time to come to terms with your inevitable defeat!" Adrien replied, winking at the other couple walking to their section of the room. "Are you okay up there?" He asked Marinette.

"Yep!" She replied, her voice an octave higher than usual. "I'm fine!"

"Okay, cool. Let me know if you need to readjust, though – I wouldn't want you to be uncomfortable."

"Thanks," she said, glad that Adrien couldn't see the blush creeping up her neck. "I will!"

When Adrien got to their corner, Marinette quickly made sure she could reach the ceiling with her roller. When they'd confirmed that she could (just about), Nino and Adrien rotated so they were facing each other at the opposite ends of the room.

"Ready?" Alya called, lifting her roller to the ceiling. Marinette imitated her friend's pose, scrunching her nose slightly as a drop of paint splattered onto her finger. She rubbed the spot with her thumb in an attempt to get it off, but only succeeded in smearing it onto her fingertips and the shaft of the roller, which waved precariously as she did so.

"Yo, Marinette, you good to go?" Nino asked. Marinette blinked, unconsciously squeezing Adrien's shoulder a bit tighter as she let out an awkward laugh.

"Sorry! Yep, I'm ready – ready to win!"

She heard Adrien laugh beneath her. "That's what I like to hear!" he said, tilting his head up to beam at Marinette.

"Okay, ready on three! One, two… _three!"_ Alya cried, and Adrien and Nino began to move.

They started carefully, each boy slowly carrying the girl on their shoulders, making sure that they weren't jolted too much. But as Adrien's pace increased, so did Nino's; the two kept an eye on each other as they moved across the room, occasionally moving towards a paint pot to carefully dip the rollers and readjust Alya and Marinette.

But the boys underestimated the competitiveness of the girls on their backs; as Adrien and Marinette's lead increased, Alya poked Nino on the head.

"Nino, go faster! I don't have the money to buy them ice-cream, we have to win!"

Nino complied, increasing his speed as Alya kept the roller pressed against the ceiling. Adrien frowned, not wanting to go much faster, until Marinette whispered "We can't let them win! Go go go!"

When Adrien reached the wall, he flipped around quickly and sped up, moving faster than Nino and Alya, who then tried to match his speed. The quartet continued to do this, trying to race without going too fast, until the final stretch of ceiling became clear to them.

It looked like it was going to be a tie; each pair turned for the final time simultaneously, one strip of ceiling left for them to do. Nino and Adrien locked eyes, pausing for a moment before breaking into a run, the girls on their backs gripping their shoulders tightly as they held their rollers firmly on the ceiling.

Nino was charging closer to Adrien and Marinette than he thought he would, and Adrien realised that they pairs were going to collide if neither of them did anything. Nino came to the same realisation, and both tried to move out of the way to stop the collision. As he spun out of the way of his friend, Adrien's foot caught on the lid of the paint pot; he tried to regain his balance, but Marinette's presence on his back caused him to fall backwards as he tripped.

Marinette wasn't quite sure how Adrien did it, but as the two of them fell he quickly twisted so that Marinette landed on him, rather than the other way round. Marinette's body slammed against Adrien's as they hit the ground, the roller clattering on the floor as Marinette's hands shot out to break her fall. She opened her eyes to find herself hovering just above Adrien. Marinette pushed herself upright instantly so she was straddling him, her hands pressed against her cheeks as she looked down at him.

"Adrien! Are you okay?" She asked as Alya climbed off Nino's back, the pair rushing towards their friends on the floor.

"Dude, you alright?" Nino said, worry lacing his words as he ran over.

"I'm fine," Adrien replied with a slight groan as he pushed himself up, rubbing the back of his head with one hand. "I've had worse." He looked at Marinette, searching her face with concern in his eyes. "Are _you_ alright?

She nodded. "Yes! I mean, yeah, you... you, uh, broke my fall," Marinette replied, blushing as she realised that she was currently _straddling_ Adrien. He sat upright, and suddenly his face was next to hers as he straightened up, his lips quirking upwards.

"Good, I'm glad you're alright," he said. He frowned slightly, worry creasing his forehead as Marinette seemed to freeze, her eyes locked on his as she noticed the position they were in.

Marinette didn't know why she did it; when Alya asked her later, she wouldn't have any explanation for her logic or thought process. All she knew was that she was suddenly _very_ close to Adrien's face, and sheer panic had resulted in her lifting her hand, fingertip still smeared with paint from the roller, and softly poking Adrien's nose.

" _Boop."_

Everyone was silent as Marinette moved her hand away, leaving a splotch of white paint on her crush's nose; her mouth dropped open as her mind caught up with her body, and she was sure everyone could hear her internally screaming.

She was straddling Adrien, and had just booped his nose. Really, she thought, now would be a fantastic time for an akuma to attack her, preferably one which would help her disappear forever. She shot off Adrien like he was on fire, hands covering her mouth as she leaped off him, paint streaking her face.

"I'm sorry! Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" Marinette squeaked. Adrien blinked, rubbing his nose with the palm of his hand. Looking down at the smudge of paint on the heel of his palm, he started to laugh. And once the floodgates had opened, Nino and Alya couldn't help but join in at the look of shock on Marinette's face.

"Girl, you look like you just stabbed him," Alya chuckled, moving towards her best friend and slipping her arm around her shoulder comfortingly. Marinette didn't move, frozen in her position of horror as Nino went to give Adrien a hand up.

Théo had no idea what had happened when he came back into the classroom a few moments later, ready to tell his volunteers that they could leave. He was sure there was _some_ explanation for why the boy in the cap was doubled over laughing whilst the blonde boy was trying to reassure the girl with pigtails, who stood frozen in dismay as the redhead laughed quietly next to her - but Théo wasn't sure he wanted to know it.

He backed out of the classroom, noting the paint on the ceiling and nodding.

Whatever had happened, the job was done, which meant Théo could go back to his studio and continue to work on his next statue.

So he did.


	9. Please don't do this

"Please don't do this," he whispers softly against her lips. His forehead is pressed to hers, their hands entwined tightly as Marinette's breath comes out in shakes. Her eyes are closed, unable to face the boy whose heart she's breaking for the second time.

Chat Noir releases one of her hands, his fingers gently curling around the back of her neck; he would pull her closer, if they weren't already only a breath apart. "Marinette. _Please_."

"It - it's the right thing to do, Chat," she replies, letting go of his hand and moving back, closer to the entrance to the balcony; Chat Noir's hands drop to his sides as her eyes open, determination coursing through her frame. "You _know_ it's the right thing."

"It's not." Chat says with a shake of his head, unable to pull his gaze from Marinette's blue eyes, darkened by the clouded midnight which refused to let moonlight filter through.

"It _is_." Her words are firmer now, but still tainted by sadness.

"Marinette-"

"What else can we do?" she says, exasperation in her voice. She pushes her bangs out of her face as the midnight breeze slips through her hair, and Chat Noir hears her breath hitch. "This can't work. We should never have started in the first place."

"So what are you saying?" Chat asks; the words, which could so easily be aggressive, come out as a plea. "That this - _us_ \- was a mistake?"

"No! Yes. I don't know!" Marinette cries, wrapping her arms around herself; the night is cold, and her jumper isn't providing much warmth. Usually Chat would offer to help her warm up, but he can't tonight. He can only stand, frozen on her balcony, watching as Marinette rips his heart apart.

"Look, you know I care about you. A lot. More… more than I should," she says quietly, her words twisting through the night to slice Chat Noir's heart, and Chat has to grip the balcony behind him to stop himself from moving to her and holding her tightly. "But we have to face the facts. We can't work - I can't tell anyone about you. Not my friends, or my family. And… and I don't know you!" she exclaims.

 _You do, though_ , he thinks, and it's the first time he's seriously considered revealing his identity. Because how can he talk to her as Adrien, knowing she didn't want him as Chat Noir? School tomorrow was already going to be painful; Marinette just didn't know it. And the thought of telling her, of letting her know his biggest secret, is so tempting - because maybe, that way, he can stay with her for a little bit longer…

He takes a step backwards, the small of his back pressing against the railing of her balcony. His fingers move to the ring which grants him this power, this mask, and Chat Noir holds Marinette's gaze steadily as his grip tightens on it.

"I would tell you in a heartbeat, if you asked me to."

Marinette's eyes widen as she realises what he means.

"No," she says firmly, shaking her head. "No, Chat. I would never ask you to do that. Secret identities… they're secret for a reason."

There's a crack in her voice which fractures Chat Noir's already fragile heart a bit more, and he knows that this is the reason. Not because she can't tell Alya or her parents about him, or even because of that boy she refuses to tell him about, the one who caused her to hesitate the first time Chat leaned in to kiss her; no, it's that two lives is one too many for her.

And that's okay. Sometimes it's too much for _him_. But it kills Chat Noir because Marinette thinks he's a stranger, and has no clue that the boy who sits in front of her every single day has slowly been falling for her behind a mask.

She knows him. And, now more than ever, he knows her. Kind, smart, beautiful Marinette, who stands up for her friends in the blink of an eye, smiles like a work of art, and let an injured cat into her home to patch him up after a particularly vicious akuma fight.

A girl who could take on the world and win, he has no doubt, but who can't love someone who has to run away at the beep of a ring.

It's not fair. For either of them.

So he drops his hands, and relief flashes through Marinette's eyes.

"It's best to keep it a secret, Chat. Even between us," she says, and the words are so gentle that he knows that she understands how important keeping his lives separate is.

Chat Noir nods, closing his eyes in acceptance as something presses at the back of his mind. There's a familiarity to her statement, but now isn't the time to question it; in the midst of heartbreak, Chat Noir can only focus on the girl in front of him, whose words make sense to his head but not to his heart.

"You're right," Chat replies, his voice barely a whisper as he resigns himself to the end of this beautiful, delicate relationship. "I'll… I'll go." He gives Marinette a half-hearted grin and salute before pushing himself onto her balcony rail and extending his baton.

"I'll see you round, Princess," he says, not wanting to end the conversation badly. "Stay safe."

Chat Noir barely hears her reply of "You too!" before leaping off the balcony, trailing his way over the rooftops of Paris back to his empty house.

He runs quickly, the breeze whipping through his hair as he jumps across rooftops and balconies, replaying the conversation over in his head.

Maybe he should have stayed; maybe he should have fought for her - for _them_. But he can't deny Marinette anything, even at the cost of his bruised heart. Her words run through his mind, tiny daggers twisting in the wound of her goodbye.

And suddenly he stops running. He's nearly home, standing on the roof of a neighbour who would probably be scandalized to find Chat Noir loitering on his property, when the niggling thought at the back of his mind makes a reappearance as he rolls through Marinette's words one more time.

" _It's best to keep it a secret, Chat. Even between us."_

He's heard that before. A memory of a hotel broom closet after fighting Lady Wifi flashes through his head, along with thoughts of the girl he loved keeping him at a distance when he promised to keep her secrets.

" _It's best to keep it a secret, even between us."_

And all at once, it clicks; the eyes, her smile, the _hair_.

They have the same hair. How could he have been so blind?

Chat looks at his ring, and can't believe his luck when he sees that he's in the clear, five neon-green toes beaming on his cat's paw. He spins on his heel and runs, faster than he knew he could, back to the balcony where he left his heart with a girl he fell for twice.

As he runs, more and more pieces of the puzzle slide into place; the sheer number of akuma attacks Marinette has missed, how Ladybug knew all of his classmate's names. He still isn't over the fact they had the same _hair_ , and he didn't notice.

Whilst a minute part of him is screaming _coincidence! It's all a coincidence!_ Chat Noir is sure that Marinette Dupain-Cheng is also his partner in crime-fighting, Ladybug. And if she is, then the game has changed.

If she is, then she has some explaining to do.

And so does he.


	10. Please, don't leave

"Please, don't leave."

Ladybug turns at her partner's words, the raw desperation in his voice causing her to look back when she really shouldn't; her earrings are beeping urgently, and she knows she doesn't have the time to stay.

But she spins back to face Chat Noir nonetheless. His hand is outstretched towards her, and drops back to his side as she turns to him. Chat's hand tightens around the baton he's holding when he looks at Ladybug, whose eyebrows raise in exasperation at her partner.

"Chat, I'm sorry, but I need to leave before my transformation drops!" Ladybug says, tension steeling her body as she prepares to flee the second the beeps by her ear become more frequent.

Chat Noir scratches the back of his head, smiling awkwardly as he does so.

"I know, it's just - I was thinking, maybe you… don't have to." He shuts his eyes for a second, shoulders tensing before he looks back at Ladybug with a nervous smile. "I just want to know who you are, without the mask. Please."

"Chat-"

"I wouldn't tell anyone," Chat Noir says earnestly, and Ladybug can hear the honesty in his words as he dips forward in a bow. "You can trust me. I promise." He winks at her, and Ladybug lets out a soft huff of amusement, laced with sadness at the fact she knows exactly what she's going to say to him.

They've had this conversation before. Her answer hasn't changed.

Despite her time rapidly running out, Ladybug moves over to Chat Noir, footsteps echoing in the vacant building which is empty but for the two of them. When she reaches her partner, Ladybug meets his gaze. Hope lights up his face at her actions, but the look in her eyes causes his enthusiastic smile to falter, just a bit.

"I know I can," Ladybug replies, and she means it; Chat Noir has his flaws, but he's never been anything but loyal to his word. He would keep her secret to the grave, if he had to.

But she's seen him betray her before, if not by choice, when an arrow pierced his back and turned him against her. Fighting Chat Noir had been difficult, and if she hadn't managed to pull him into a kiss (the memory of which still slips into her mind when she lets her guard down, and Marinette has to take a moment to remind herself that _it means nothing. I love Adrien. It meant nothing_ ), Ladybug has to question whether or not her trusted partner would have managed to take her Miraculous.

It had showed Ladybug that neither her nor Chat Noir are immune to Hawkmoth's powers. And knowing each other's identity is a risk too great to take, just in case they fall victim to him again.

So she rests her hands on Chat Noir's shoulders, her ribbons swaying as she shakes her head at his suggestion.

"I trust you with my life, Chat, but it's too dangerous." Ladybug lets go of her partner, whose eyes have shut as he nods his head once in acceptance. Her earrings start to beep faster, and she knows she only has one spot left on them. Ladybug takes a step back.

"I have to go," she says, and begins to move away, her steps breaking into a run as she leaves Chat Noir in the empty room. When she reaches the doorway she pauses, looking back at him.

"Chat?" she calls, and he looks up to meet her gaze.

"I'm sorry," Ladybug says, and runs out of the building to transform in an alleyway before he can respond.

She doesn't see Chat Noir's sad smile as she leaves, or hear the soft sigh he emits as he turns to leave through the back door, careful to avoid anywhere she might be de-transforming.

"It's okay," Chat Noir replies to the girl who's no longer by his side, letting his transformation drop in the back room of the building before slipping away, unnoticed. He knows Ladybug can't hear him, isn't anywhere _near_ him, but he needs to say it anyway.

"I understand."


	11. You lied to me

"You lied to me."

It's a statement, not an accusation; but when the words fall softly from Marinette's lips, Adrien winces as if she'd screamed them.

The midday sun filters through the small spaces between the leaves above them, speckles of golden light falling onto the pair as they sit quietly on the bench. The park probably isn't the best place to have this conversation, but nowhere else felt... right.

Nowhere in Paris was neutral ground; they'd fought together _everywhere_ , and even the park held memories of the two of them eating quiche before being attacked by an akuma, and taking photos of their class for Juleka.

But they'd needed to talk. The revelation of their identities was a shock to them both, and answering one question has led to a thousand others which whirl in Adrien's head like a tornado.

 _How does this - us - work now we know each other's identity?_

 _Why didn't you tell me?_

 _What_ are _we?_

He can't tell if Marinette is thinking the same thing. Since he revealed himself to her she's barely looked at him – in hindsight, confronting her about her identity in the middle of the night as Chat Noir probably hadn't been the best move.

But god, he'd been so _happy_. His mysterious Lady who'd stolen his heart with ease was Marinette, the girl who'd begun to pull him away from Ladybug with her sweet smile and kind heart. The fire and determination in both girls – well, the one girl, it turned out – had drawn Adrien to them, but when he had finally been allowed to know Marinette, her awkwardness around him dropping as soon as he wore a mask, the choice had been surprisingly easy.

And when he'd figured it out, that crystal moment of realization which had been like putting on a pair of glasses and seeing everything clearly for the first time, he hadn't wasted a minute.

It had been reckless, bounding to her house at midnight – he'd been lucky she had still been awake to hear his gentle knock on the door of her balcony. And that had been exactly where his luck had run out, her reaction to his revelation about her identity and his de-transformation far less thrilled than Adrien had hoped it would be. Instead of gleefully throwing herself into his arms, Marinette had just… stared.

Adrien was concerned that Marinette had turned to stone after a few minutes. He'd never seen someone go that long without blinking. Her mouth had fallen open in shock when his transformation dropped, and for a split second Adrien had been worried that she would scream – the last thing the situation needed was Marinette's parents.

Instead she'd just gaped, eyes unmoving from Adrien's face until, finally, she'd spoken.

"I – I can't do this. Not right now."

And she'd walked back into her room, leaving a stunned Adrien standing on her balcony, the chill of the Parisian night seeping through his clothes.

He had waited for ten minutes to give Plagg time to rest before transforming again, but also to make sure that Marinette wouldn't come back out to talk to him; but he understood the shock of the revelation, and once Plagg was ready to go, Chat Noir went back home to a sleepless night filled with the thoughts of tomorrow.

Adrien had gotten to class early the next day, watching his classmates slowly amble in. Nino sat down next to his best friend, and the pair had chatted as Adrien kept one eye on the door. Alya had walked in alone, and Adrien had begun to worry that Marinette was going to skip when the bell rang to start class.

Five minutes later, Marinette sprinted through the door, apologising to the teacher as she took her seat. She'd avoided Adrien's gaze, and he'd spent the whole class barely able to pay attention to as he thought about what he was going to say to her. Time dragged by, each few seconds punctuated by a glance at the clock, which couldn't be willed into going faster no matter how hard Adrien tried. When, _finally_ , the clock had struck twelve, Adrien had spun around to face Marinette, his arm draped on the back of his seat as he looked imploringly at her.

"Hey Marinette? Can I talk to you about something?"

He ignored Alya's grin and Nino's look of confusion, focusing solely on the girl who couldn't quite meet his eyes.

"Sure," Marinette replied, forcing casualness into her voice as she looked at Alya. "I'll see you after lunch?" Marinette asked her friend, who nodded and moved out of the classroom, grabbing Nino's arm and dragging him with her.

Adrien stood up, hoisting his bag over his shoulder as Marinette did the same. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as Marinette shook her head.

"Not here," she said, still looking at the floor. "We can talk, but… not here."

Adrien nodded, gesturing to the door. "Lead the way."

The walk to the park wasn't long, but it _felt_ it; Marinette stayed a step in front of Adrien, and he didn't feel confident enough to catch up to her until she stopped by the bench. They'd sat there, letting the world pass by them as they wrapped themselves in the cocoon of their secrets, known only to each other.

Adrien didn't want to rush Marinette; the first words shouldn't come from him in this conversation.

So when she spoke, as softly as the breeze which slipped over them, Adrien let his shoulders sag in relief, even as the words sliced his heart.

"I didn't lie to you, technically," Adrien replies to her words, shooting her a glance before his gaze drops back to his shoes, scuffing the ground with his sneakers as he talks. "I just... didn't tell you the whole truth."

Her hands are grasping her knees, her body leaning forward as if she's ready to leap away at any moment. Tension tightens her shoulders, and she lets out something which isn't quite a laugh, but is better than the silence of moments before.

"Okay. Maybe you didn't lie to me," she concedes, still not looking at Adrien. "But you should have told me it was you."

Adrien raises his eyebrows. "You mean like you told me that you were Ladybug?"

Marinette closes her eyes, twining her fingers together and propping her forehead on them as she rests her elbows on her knees. Adrien sighs, his confidence in this conversation faltering; maybe they needed more time before they had this talk.

He'd always imagined knowing Ladybug's identity would break down the barriers between them. Adrien had never thought it would cause more to be built.

He doesn't know if he can piece back together the trust between them, his affection for Marinette having caused this trouble in the first place (although he can't bring himself to regret his inability to stay away from her, even as Chat Noir) but he knows that he'll hate himself if he doesn't try.

"I was really happy when I figured out it was you," Adrien whispers, unable to look at her as he speaks, baring his emotions for her eyes only. "And when I looked back, I realised I couldn't imagine Ladybug being anyone else. Because you're… you. You're fantastic, and I can't believe I didn't see it sooner. And… and I know that it must be disappointing to find out that I'm _me_ , but… I thought you might – might be happy. Might be okay with it." He lets his words trail off, and thinks that maybe this was a bad idea.

She'd always said their real identities were better kept secret. Maybe Ladybug – no, _Marinette_ \- had been right.

His thoughts are interrupted by Marinette's startled voice.

"You think I'm _disappointed?"_ she asks incredulously. Adrien turns to look at her, and he's surprised to see a look of horror on her face.

"Well… yeah," he says, and he looks back down at his knees. "I'm hardly a prize partner."

He feels a hand on his shoulder, and looks across to see Marinette scooting closer to him, a blush warming her cheeks as she looks at him, a sad smile on her lips.

"Adrien, I – I'm so glad it's you. Honestly. I know I haven't exactly been acting like it, but there's nobody else I'd rather have fighting by my side."

"Really?" Adrien says, his voice small as he stares at his hands.

"Yes," Marinette replies, her words firm but kind. Adrien looks up at her, and their eyes meet for the first time since he revealed himself to her. He notices the dark circles under her eyes, and realises that he wasn't the only one who had a sleepless night worrying over this. Marinette removes her hand from his shoulder, blinking as she turns away from his gaze. Her knuckles clench against her pink jeans, and Marinette sighs as she looks down at them.

"I know I haven't dealt with this well. I'm sorry. But this has all come as quite a big shock, and I guess it's just difficult, because I thought I knew you so well – both of you. I mean, I _do_ , but I also don't, and it's just kind of hard to get it in my head that you're Chat Noir and that he's you!" Marinette is gesturing wildly with her hands as she explains, and eventually gives up and places her head in them. "It's not a bad thing, I just… need some time." The words are muffled by her hands, and Adrien looks at her affectionately. His hand moves onto her shoulder, mimicking her own gesture of comfort, and he smiles at her softly.

"Okay," he says, squeezing Marinette's shoulder.

She opens her fingers slightly, one blue eye peeping through the gap as she looks towards him.

"Okay?" Marinette repeats quietly. Adrien nods, his other hand scratching the back of his head as he does so.

"Yeah, I get that this is a lot to take in. I did kind of throw this at you all at once." He laughs dryly, leaning back against the bench. "Honestly, I don't think I did this the right way. I'm sorry."

Marinette lets out a laugh, her hands slipping down to drop into her lap.

"We're teenage superheroes who've just found out each other's identities after months of secrecy. I'm not sure there _is_ a right way to do this." Marinette gestures between the two of them, and her eyes widen as she realises what she's doing. Adrien pretends not to notice the implications, although he's wondering exactly what _this_ means for the two of them now.

Adrien looks at Marinette, whose head is back in her hands as she makes unintelligible noises, and knows that now probably isn't the best time to talk to her about his feelings for her in both her personas (and her feelings for him, perhaps – because he's sure that this isn't unrequited. He's seen the way she looks at Chat sometimes, when she thinks he doesn't see, and recognises it as the same look she sometimes gives _Adrien_ ).

So he pushes past his desire for answers to a question she isn't ready for, and instead focuses on rebuilding the friendship they have in numerous forms, masks on or off.

"I do understand," Adrien says, his hand rubbing Marinette's shoulder soothingly. "I mean, I thought I would recognise Ladybug if I saw her every day, and I thought… well, I thought I knew you pretty well, too. So how about this: we take some time, and get to know each other properly. Without the whole secret identity thing. And we… we can go from there. Deal?"

Marinette's hands fall back into her lap, and she nods vigorously at the boy next to her.

"Deal," she says, and a small smile creeps onto her face. Adrien can't help but grin, the peace settling between them like the rays of light slipping through the leaves. He reaches out a hand to Marinette, who raises an eyebrow as her eyes flick to it.

"Friends, then?" Adrien asks, hoping that Marinette doesn't notice the wobble of nerves in his voice at the possibility of her rejection. Marinette's shoulders shake as she giggles silently. Adrien notices the pink tinge on her cheeks as Marinette delicately takes his hand, meeting his eyes as she shakes her head firmly at him.

"No," she replies, and Adrien's eyes widen in shock. Marinette beams at him, and it's like looking at an angel; Adrien blinks as she replies, the single word filled with meaning.

" _Partners."_


	12. I almost lost you

_I almost lost you,_ Ladybug thinks, and she wraps her arms around Chat Noir's waist when he thrusts his fist out proudly for her to bump. His body tenses, unused to such displays of affection from his Lady; but after a second he relaxes, resting his chin on the top of Ladybug's head as his arms drape around her shoulders.

"Uh, Ladybug?" Chat Noir asks, drawing back to look down at his red-suited partner, "Is everything okay?"

 _It was too close this time_ , she thinks, and the stress of the battle finally hits her, seeping into her bones and causing her to tense. Ladybug moves away from Chat, a glare on her face and her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"Do you have a death wish?" Ladybug demands, eyes narrowed through her mask. Chat blinks in confusion at the sudden change in atmosphere.

"...No?" he replies, eyebrows raised questioningly at the girl glaring at him.

"Then what," she says, gesturing to the park where her partner had thrown himself at a particularly dangerous akuma, "was _that_?"

She's knows she's lucky that nobody is around yet; the park is still empty, the akuma attack having caused everyone to flee to safety. The akuma victim herself ran off once she'd been saved, needing to check that she hadn't done any damage to her friends, leaving Paris' superhero duo alone.

Chat Noir shrugs, grinning at her as he moves to lean against one of the lampposts scattered throughout the park. "I thought it was _paw_ -sitively heroic, don't you?"

Ladybug's hands move from her hips as she crosses her arms, her glare never wavering.

"Really? Nothing? I thought that was a good one," Chat sighs dramatically. "Why are my _purr_ fect puns never appreciated by my Lady?"

Ladybug lets out a huff of frustration. "Now is not the time, Chat!" Ladybug says, worry saturating her words. "You threw yourself in the direct path of an akuma attack, and not a harmless one! You were seriously hurt; you've got to stop needlessly putting yourself in danger like that!"

"I knew I'd be fine-"

"There was so much _blood_ -"

"It's okay, though, you fixed it. You always do."

"You could have _died_ , I didn't know if Lucky Charm was going to work-"

"But the akuma was aiming for _you!_ "

A heartbeat passes, and Ladybug's anger drops at her partner's words. Her shoulders sag, and she rubs her face with one hand.

"I - Thank you. I should have started with that, shouldn't I?"

"Well, yes, but I forgive you." Chat Noir shrugs. "It's not a problem, my Lady. Nine lives, remember?" He grins, twirling his tail as he winks at her. Ladybug shakes her head, and Chat's tail stops spinning as he sees the look in her eyes.

"You said it yourself, that's just a legend. You've got to stop doing this, Chat - it was too close this time. It wasn't like when you disappeared, or when you sided with Dark Cupid; Chat, you weren't _moving_!"

Chat Noir meets her eyes as he straightens up, and Ladybug is surprised by the steel in his gaze.

"If it comes down to me or you, I'll always pick you," he says quietly, and Ladybug has to look away. Her folded arms become an embrace as she holds herself together, the sincerity in Chat's words breaking her heart.

"Don't," Ladybug says, and steps towards him. Placing her hands on his shoulders, her blue eyes meet green, and she pales at the memory of those eyes shut as Chat Noir lay still on the ground, thrown callously to the ground by the akuma like a crumpled ball of paper. "You're not expendable, Chat. I need you, okay?"

Her partner's hands move to her forearms, his eyebrows furrowing as he begins to speak. "Ladybug, I-"

A shrill beep interrupts Chat's words, and he blinks when Ladybug curses under her breath. Her hands leave his shoulders as she grabs her yo-yo, beginning to spin it so she can make a swift exit.

"Just... be more careful, please? We're a team, and that kind of falls apart if you die." Ladybug stares at Chat Noir firmly. "Promise me you won't do it again?"

Time's running out, her earrings trilling loudly, but she waits until Chat Noir raises one hand and nods before she leaps away to de-transform.

She doesn't see the crossed fingers behind his back.


	13. Looks like we'll be in here for a while

"Looks like we'll be in here for a while," Adrien said with a grimace, rubbing his shoulder as pain shot through it. He'd thrown himself against the door of the equipment room in an attempt to force it open, but whatever the akuma had used to hold it in place had held firm.

He heard Marinette's footsteps quickly move towards him; as soon as she'd heard the slam of his body on the door, Marinette had stopped her search for another exit and sped back towards Adrien. She looked at him, eyes wide with concern, and bit her lip as she looked at the door keeping them in the gym equipment room.

"There's no other exit," she said, confirming Adrien's suspicions. He gave Marinette a half smile, rolling his shoulders to stretch out the ache which was dulling by the second.

"Well, I guess we're stuck in here then," he replied, silently weighing the pros and cons of transforming on front of Marinette. Adrien winced as he heard some of the shrieks of his classmates through the wood of the door. The akuma had been shooting some sort of glue at everyone, encasing them in the opaque liquid before freezing them them in place for reasons Adrien hadn't yet figured out. Adrien had run into the small room to transform, but had found Marinette inside, one hand shoved in her bag. She'd looked up at Adrien like a deer caught in headlights, but there had been no time to ask questions before the glue-like substance had hit the door, seeping through the gaps to trap the pair inside.

"Where's Ladybug?" Adrien murmured, pressing his ear against the door. "Usually she's here by now."

He didn't notice Marinette tense, or dip her hand into her bag at his words.

A particularly shrill scream - he'd recognize Chloé's voice anywhere - forced Adrien to move his ear away from the door, concern framing his face. Marinette's hand moved back out of her bag as Adrien turned to face her.

He seemed to evaluate Marinette, his mind whirring as he contemplated his options: to transform and compromise his secret identity, or wait and pray that Ladybug sowed up soon? Marinette tilted her head as Adrien tapped his chin with one finger, beginning to pace around the small space of the room whilst debating his choices.

Another scream made his decision for him; there was no time to waste waiting for Ladybug - his friends were in danger.

Adrien looked at Marinette, his body tense as he met her eyes.

"Marinette, I'm about to do something and I need you to promise you'll keep it a secret. Okay?"

His words came out as a plea, but before Marinette could answer he pulled Plagg out of his bag and called out to the kwami.

"Plagg - claws out!"

Marinette could only gawk as Adrien Agreste, her long-time crush, transformed into her masked partner in fighting crime. Chat Noir looked at her, a shy smile which she now recognized as belonging to Adrien on his face, one hand raking through his blonde hair.

"I know this must come as a bit of a surprise, but-"

"You have _got_ to be kidding me!" Marinette said, a look of pure shock on her face. Chat Noir moved closer to Marinette and put his hands on her shoulders, looking her dead in the eye as his smile became one of reassurance. Marinette could only blink, her lip curled in disbelief as she looked at Chat Noir with wide eyes.

"I promise I'll explain everything later," Chat Noir said, squeezing Marinette's shoulders gently, "but right now our classmates need me. Once I bust us out of here, I need you to run in the opposite direction to me. If you see Ladybug, point her in the right direction, but otherwise just get out of here, okay?"

Marinette blinked, still frozen by surprise. Chat let out a small sigh before releasing her, turning to face the door which was confining them. His face hardened, raising one hand as his body tensed for his attack.

"Cataclys-"

" _Wait!"_

Marinette grabbed Chat Noir's wrist, spinning him round to face her before he could finish his attack. He looked between her and the door, gaping at her.

"Marinette, what the he-?"

She placed a finger on his lips, taking a step back and holding her hands out in front of her. Chat Noir barely had time to acknowledge the flash of red which zipped into her palms before Marinette, her gaze never moving from his face, said the one thing he never expected to hear from her lips.

"Tikki, spots on!"

In the blink of an eye, Ladybug was standing in front of him, her red outfit bright in the dim lighting of the equipment room. Chat Noir's jaw dropped open, and Ladybug grinned awkwardly, shrugging.

"I thought if you were being honest, I probably should be too," she said, gesturing to her outfit. "Ta da!"

When Chat Noir didn't respond, the only indication that he was still alive the occasional blink, Ladybug clicked her fingers in front of his mask to snap him out of it. With a rapid shake of his head, Chat Noir pointed a finger at his partner, green eyes wide.

"You - Marinette - _you-"_

"Yeah, I didn't expect this either." Ladybug's voice was higher than usual, her words shaky as she faked the confidence she was so used to feeling with her partner. "We have a lot to talk about, but first we have an akuma to fight. Feel like getting us out of here?" Ladybug said, and Chat Noir couldn't help but notice the blush creeping up her cheeks as she spoke.

He nodded, still trying to process the fact that _Marinette was Ladybug how had he not_ noticed _this?_

Chat Noir raised his palm, turning away from his partner and once again facing the door that was keeping them from the akuma.

"Cataclysm!"

He pressed the glowing green energy against the door, dissolving it in an instant. Luckily - well, luckily for Ladybug and Chat Noir, at least - their classmates were encased in opaque shells, unable to see the superheroes emerge from the room their classmates had inhabited.

Ladybug and Chat Noir sprinted out of the room, keeping a small distance from each other as they let themselves process the revelation of their partner's identities. Chat Noir could see the pink tinge on Ladybug's cheeks as she ran beside him through the school, tracking the akuma by following the quickly-muffled screams of Parisians being engulfed by its attack.

He couldn't help but grin as a thought came to him, and when Ladybug glanced at him, she raised an eyebrow as they ran down the steps of the school.

"What are you so happy about?" she asked nonchalantly, pausing as she looked to see which way the akuma had headed.

Chat Noir smirked, leaning on the railing of the staircase as Ladybug placed her hands on her hip, one eyebrow raised as she attempted to maintain her aloof dynamic with her partner.

Chat Noir winked.

"I _told_ you we might know each other in real life."


	14. Come over here and make me

"Come over here and make me!" Chat Noir calls out to the akuma ordering him to give her his Miraculous. He grins as he avoids another attack, spinning his baton to deflect the pointed flowers being thrown at him, their stems sharp as knives as they whistle through the air.

Of course Rose would be turned into The Gardener. Really, he should have seen it coming.

"Do you really think taunting her is the best idea?" Ladybug says, desperately trying to figure out how the flannel which her Lucky Charm produced can help them in this situation; Le Grand Paris is slowly being encased in thick vines, and unless she can stop the akuma that was once Rose, they're going to be trapped in the hotel for good whilst Paris becomes a botanic jungle.

Okay, it isn't the _worst_ akuma they've faced, but the situation still isn't great; Ladybug isn't quite sure how the tiny piece of material her power has given her is going to be of any use, and she's pretty certain that Chat Noir's taunting isn't helping the situation.

Chat Noir grins at Ladybug in response, looking away from the barrage of flowers to wink at her.

"Don't worry My Lady, I'm _purr_ fectly sure I have the situation under-"

He feels something wrap around his ankle, cutting him off as he keeps his baton twirling in the air to protect himself from the onslaught of thorns. Chat Noir looks down to see a vine twisting up his leg, tightly wrapping around him as it quickly creeps up his body. He looks at Ladybug, eyes wide.

"Oh no."

In a heartbeat, vines have encased Chat Noir in a cocoon of green, his baton decreasing as he pulls it close to his chest. The air is suddenly thick, and he extends his baton as far as he's able, thumping it against the tightly twined vines to no avail.

Chat Noir growls as he presses an ear against the vines, the world outside muffled by the greenery. He can hear the occasional crash, but nothing to indicate which way the fight is going. Chat's sure he could blast his way out of his prison, but he already used cataclysm to get them into the building; he's not certain he can pull it off again so soon.

He doesn't have to think it through for long, however; within a few moments of his confinement, the vines retract, dissolving around Chat Noir and dropping him onto the carpet of the room with a soft thud.

Chat Noir looks around the room as he stands up, brushing specks of dust from the carpet off his catsuit. He looks up to see Ladybug slide her yo-yo back around her waist and walk towards him as Rose runs out of the room to find Juleka. Ladybug stops in front of Chat Noir, folding her arms across her chest.

"You know, you've really got to stop taunting the akumas, Chat," Ladybug smirks, one eyebrow raised at her partner. A grin spreads onto Chat Noir's face as he leans forward slightly, moving his face closer to Ladybug's.

"Why don't you come over here and make me?" He says it quietly; it's a dare, one he's still not certain she'll take, this new dynamic still a change to them both-

His doubts are cut off as an arm weaves around his neck and Ladybug's lips press against his, firm and soft and insistent. Chat's arms instinctively wrap around her waist, holding her steady as she leans on her tiptoes so she can reach his mouth. Ladybug pulls away after a second, a knowing grin on her face as her eyes meet his.

"If you insist," she replies, her lips a torturous centimeter from Chat Noir's. He doesn't say anything, instead closing the gap between them and kissing her again. One of Ladybug's hands finds its way into Chat's hair, pulling him as close to her as possible as she locks her arm around his shoulders, his fingers tracing the polka dots on her waist as he kisses her once, twice, again and again because it's not enough, it's _never_ enough-

Chat Noir's ring starts to beep at the same time as Ladybug's earrings. The couple pull apart, breaths mingling for a moment before Ladybug moves away from her dazed partner.

"Time to get out of here, kitty, before our transformations wear off." Ladybug winks, flicking the bell on Chat Noir's neck as she lets go of him, grinning contentedly.

"mm'kay," Chat Noir says dreamily, leaning forward for another kiss as his hands tighten around her waist. Ladybug places a finger on his nose, gently pushing his face back up as she shakes her head, giggling.

"Sorry Chat, but reality calls," Ladybug laughs, slipping out of his embrace and moving towards the door with a wave. "I'll see you round," she grins, turning back to face her partner to blow him a kiss before shutting the door behind her.

Chat Noir lets out a happy sigh, giving Ladybug enough time to find somewhere to de-transform before leaving the room himself.

He knows it's wrong of him to hope another akuma attack happens soon, Adrien thinks as he slips out of Le Grand Paris' entrance - but really, if they keep ending like _that,_ can anyone blame him?


	15. I think I'm in love with you

_I think I'm in love with you, and I'm terrified._

She can't say it; she _won't_ say it. Because that might make it real.

Marinette knows she's in too deep; she never meant to fall for her partner, never expected to feel anything other than friendship for the boy in the mask. She didn't even notice it happening - one moment they were laughing, sitting on the balcony covered by the cloak of midnight, and the next Marinette had noticed that her heart was beating a little bit faster in a way she usually associated with the presence of Adrien Agreste.

Adrien, sweet Adrien, who's kind and charming and who she _knows_. Adrien, who doesn't spend half his life saving Paris in a catsuit. Adrien, who she isn't lying to every time she sees him - well, not as much, at least. Secret identities _do_ mean lying to your friends pretty consistently.

But it's starting to tear at Marinette's heart, the regular lies she tells Chat Noir in both of her identities; she didn't know this would happen, never thought that she would get to know Chat Noir so well. She'd pushed him away as Ladybug, after all, and how could she have predicted that she would befriend him as Marinette?

Maybe she should have stopped it. But it was _Chat_. Marinette couldn't turn him away when he'd needed a place to hide during an akuma attack - he was her partner, her _friend_ , whether she was transformed or not - and then one visit had turned into two, then three, then more times than she could count. Marinette had gotten to know Chat Noir, _really_ know him - not the flirtatious superhero who charmed Paris, but the nameless boy beneath the mask who was worried he wasn't good enough - for his friends, for Ladybug, for his father. The boy who was in love with her secret identity, which she could now never reveal to him. The fallout would be too much, would hurt them both irreparably. How could she explain this to him, the fact she'd tried so hard to keep him at bay as Ladybug but let him in as Marinette?

How could she tell him she'd started to care for him more than she wanted to admit? That although her feelings for Adrien were still there, still an ember burning softly in her heart, suddenly her head was filled with thoughts of Chat Noir?

She was falling in love with him, and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't tell him - eventually her identity would come out, and she could already picture the hurt in Chat's eyes as he found out the girl who kept him at arm's length, even now, was the same one who loved him without her mask on.

She'd let it go on for too long; there was no way Marinette could tell him without him thinking she'd been toying with his heart, and the thought of hurting Chat even a little bit cut through Marinette's very soul like a shard of ice.

She walks up the ladder from her room to the balcony, a blanket draped over her shoulder, wondering when he'll show up. Whenever there was an akuma attack, Chat Noir would come to check that she was ok, that she hadn't been hurt, and she knew that tonight would be no exception. And every time she would stand there, laughing off his concern with vague reassurances about her safety - she can't tell him that he knows _exactly_ how she was, because she was next to him the whole time.

But he always visits - just to make sure.

So Marinette waits for him, her white, baggy shirt falling over the top of her checkered flannel pants as she leans against the wall, the blanket held in her arms. She pulls her hair into a messy bun as the soft breeze pushes it out of her face, making adjusting it easier. She ties it as she balances the blanket in the crook of her elbow, wincing as the hairband pulls her hair too tightly from her scalp. She can't be bothered to re-do it, though. Marinette shivers as the breeze caresses her bare arms, taking out the blanket to tuck it around her shoulders, snuggling into it's softness as she slides down onto the floor to sit down.

She can't stop the increasing wave of anticipation as she waits for Chat to appear. Marinette's sure he'll turn up. He always does.

And after a few moments, Marinette isn't surprised when Chat Noir's head pops above the railing of the balcony, looking around to see if she's there, and a smile spreads on her face as he heaves himself up. Marinette stands, giving him room to vault over the railing gracefully before moving towards him. Chat Noir straightens himself up, grinning as he takes Marinette's hand and places it against his lips.

She used to pull her hand away instantly; now, Marinette hopes Chat Noir doesn't notice the blush creeping up her neck as she keeps hold of the blanket with her free hand.

"Hi, Chat," Marinette says, shaking her head as she tugs her hand away. "Everything ok? I heard that there was an attack today..." The lie falls from her lips too easily, and Marinette hates herself for it.

Chat's grin doesn't fade as he takes a step backwards, leaning against the balcony as he folds his arms across his chest.

"What, were you worried about me?" He winks, and Marinette rolls her eyes in response.

"Well, yeah. There was an akuma attack, of course I was."

He's leaning on her balcony with that _stupid_ grin still on his face, and Marinette lets out a small huff.

"Well, clearly you're alright. I'm guessing everything got sorted out?" she asks, hoisting the blanket which had begun to slip off her shoulder back up.

"What can I say? The akumas are no match for Paris' dashing duo!" Chat Noir flexes his muscles as he speaks, and Marinette bites back a laugh of affection; she's not sure if he's genuinely showing off or if he's joking, but either way having Chat Noir pose on her balcony is a sight she desperately wants to memorize.

She can't quite hold back a giggle, and Chat freezes, one arm flexed as the other rests on his hip, and he shrugs at her, unashamed at his posing.

"How about you? You weren't hurt, were you?" Chat Noir drops his arm, worry slipping into his cheery voice. Marinette shakes her head, smiling gently.

"I was at the bakery when the attack happened - I wouldn't have known about it if my dad didn't have the TV on."

Another lie. Marinette doesn't even have to think too hard about them now, they come easily to her. Her heart aches as Chat Noir relaxes visibly, leftover tension from the battle uncoiling at her words.

"Good," he says, and the relief in his voice is palatable. "I'd hate for anything to happen to you, Princess."

He says 'Princess' the same way he says 'My Lady', and Marinette doesn't know if she wants to laugh or cry at the nickname. It's another chip in the wall she's so desperately trying to build, because she can feel herself falling for Chat Noir, and god knows that's something she can't afford to do. It's too complicated, too _much_.

But he's looking at her like she's the goddamned moon, and it's so much better than how he looks at Ladybug. Because he knows Marinette as well as she knows him, and it's so much more _real_ than the brief encounters punctuated by akuma attacks.

She thinks she knows him better than Adrien, and that breaks her heart a little. But maybe it was always going to be Chat, and Marinette curses herself for getting them into this situation, where she can't tell the person she trusts most in the world the truth because she wasn't expecting these damned _feelings._

Marinette knows she's staring at Chat Noir as the thoughts run through her mind, and she knows that _Chat_ can tell that something's up. He tilts his head to one side, a look of concern glancing across his features. His grin fades a bit as he watches Marinette, and she wonders if he can hear her heart beating whenever he looks at her because really, it's so _loud_ , how could he not?

"Marinette?" Chat Noir asks gently, taking a step forward to rest his hand on her shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Marinette nods. She shivers at his touch, and hopes she can pass it off as the chill of the night. She pulls the blanket tighter around her, and pastes a smile on her face as she looks into his eyes.

He doesn't buy it. His brow creases as Marinette's head drops to look at the ground, and he gently places his finger under her chin to tilt her face back towards his. He smiles reassuringly, and Marinette swears her heart stops for a moment.

"What are you thinking, Princess?" Chat Noir asks, and Marinette says nothing. Instead, she releases the blanket and pulls Chat into a hug, burying her face in his shoulder because she doesn't know what to say. His arms wrap around her shoulders, holding her tightly and securing the blanket around her, the top of it slipping over his arms.

"Marinette?"

 _I think I'm in love with you, and I'm terrified,_ she thinks. But she can't say it; she _won't_ say it.

It's already too real.


	16. I've seen the way you look at me

_I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice_ _,_ Ladybug thinks as she glances at the boy following her, and she can't quite believe that Adrien Agreste is looking at her like _that._

Ladybug knows the look on his face, has seen it regularly in the sneaky photos that Alya's taken of her when Marinette hasn't been paying attention to anything but Adrien sitting in front of her, completely oblivious to her gaze.

So it comes as a surprise to Ladybug when she's leading Adrien through the school, searching for somewhere the akuma calling itself Musical won't find him - really, you wouldn't think that being beaten in Paris' Top Teen Crush was _that_ big a deal, but apparently XY takes his poll stats _very_ seriously - and she catches a glimpse of his reflection in one of the windows.

It's not exactly a clear image, but Ladybug would recognise that look anywhere.

It's pure admiration mixed with something else which she can't quite explain, and it's taking everything she has to focus on the issue at hand rather than the look in Adrien's eyes. They move quickly, trying to keep Adrien away from the "fans" that Musical is creating to help him find the teen model. Most of their classmates have already been transformed, joining Musical in his hunt for Adrien after he beat XY for the top spot on the popularity poll.

Right now Ladybug has other things to worry about than how Adrien Agreste is looking at her. She has to get him to safety. She has an akuma to fight, and her partner hasn't shown up yet so she has to do it alone. But damn it, Adrien's so _distracting._

They move into a classroom that's already been searched by Musical's fans - Ladybug can tell by the overturned tables - and Ladybug is impressed by how stealthily Adrien moves as he follows her lead. She turns to scan their surroundings, her body tense in case a fan has slipped past them. As she spins around to face Adrien, the look on his face changes in an instant; his smile becomes more polite than adoring, and he raises his eyebrows at her as she observes the room.

"Is everything okay?" Adrien asks, and Ladybug nods in response, her eyes snapping to meet his.

"Yes! Everything's fine," she replies, returning his warm smile. "I think you'll be safe here - I doubt they'll check the same room twice. Hide behind one of the tables until it's safe, okay?"

Adrien nods.

"Sure. Uh, are... are you staying, too?" A soft pink tinge grows on Adrien's cheeks, and Ladybug has to hold back a scream because _is she making Adrien blush?_

She feels heat rise to her own face, and she waves her hands in front of her as she shakes her head at him.

"No, I've got to go. There's an akuma to fight, after all!" Ladybug gives him a thumbs up, and regrets it immediately. She places her hands on her hips instead, grinning confidently at Adrien as she tries to brush off her actions. "Stay here, and stay safe. I'll be close by in case the akuma comes to find you, but I'm going to look around the school and take the fight to him."

Adrien rubs the back of his neck with one hand, eyes dropping to the floor before looking back up at Ladybug, smiling warmly.

"Of course," Adrien says, face reddening further as he remembers exactly _why_ they're sneaking around classrooms in the now-empty school. "Good luck - not that you'll need it." He winks at her, and Ladybug is incredibly glad that her mask covers the blush growing with every second.

"Thanks! Now, stay out of sight!" She replies, hoping he doesn't notice that her voice is a touch higher than usual.

Ladybug turns away before Adrien can respond, moving towards the closed door. She pulls out her yo-yo as she walks, opening it so that she can look at the black screen which is clear enough to reflect her face. She angles it subtly so she can see Adrien as she leaves, and there it is: The look which can only mean one thing, and melts her heart whilst simultaneously freezing her soul.

She's thrilled that Adrien looks at Ladybug the same way that she looks at Adrien. But it breaks her heart that he doesn't look at Marinette like that.


	17. You fainted… straight into my arms

"You fainted… straight into my arms. You know, if you wanted my attention, you didn't have to go to such extremes."

It's a Ladybug joke, and that's how Adrien knows it's serious. Marinette doesn't make those jokes anymore – at least, not as often. Only when she's trying to lighten the mood, or cover her nerves.

Adrien rubs his eyes with the heels of his palms, trying to bring himself out of the blur of unconsciousness. He pulls his hands away, tiny supernovas bursting behind his eyes when he blinks, his surroundings sharpening as his eyes adjust to the room. He'd sat up too fast, and the world is still spinning slightly as he leans his elbows on his knees.

"Did it at least work?" Adrien mumbles, removing his hands and grinning tiredly at Marinette, the weight of exhaustion still pressing down on him with every breath. The smile slides off his face as he sees the raw concern in Marinette's wide eyes, her smile unable to mask the worry rolling off her in waves. "I actually fainted?" he asks, looking down at the soft pink blanket draped over him.

Adrien feels a weight press down on the mattress, and looks up to see Marinette perch on the end of the chaise longue. Her legs hang off the side of it as she twists to face him, worry etched across her face.

"Yeah" Marinette replies quietly. "One minute you were using cataclysm, the next… the next, you were on the floor." Adrien can hear the tremble in Marinette's voice, and notices the tension in her frame as she explains.

"Really?" Adrien murmurs, frowning at Marinette's words. "That's never happened before." He looks at his surroundings, and for the first time takes in the fact that he's in Marinette's room. It's a risk, bringing him here – surely her parents (who Adrien knows like to pop their heads through the trapdoor to check on their daughter) would have noticed him lying, unconscious, on the chaise longue?

"You brought me to your house?" Adrien asks, looking around the room. He sees spots of blue-tac dotted around the walls, and wonders if there used to be posters there. He shakes his head slightly; that really shouldn't be his priority right now.

He looks back at Marinette, who's pulling on a strand of her hair as she shrugs nonchalantly. Adrien would believe the casualness of the gesture if a pink flush wasn't rising to her cheeks when she replied. "Well, I figured it would be easier to bring you here than breaking into your home, which, if I recall correctly, has an incredibly complex security system which I don't know how to override," Marinette says, a weary grin on her face.

Adrien nods slowly, arching his back as he stretches his arms above his head. "Good point," he agrees, rolling his shoulders to stretch the tight muscles in his back.

Marinette looks away, staring at the floor with wide eyes as she continues to speak. "And I couldn't take you to hospital because your transformation was _just_ holding out, and I couldn't have you detransforming surrounded by doctors, and my parents are out this evening so I just... brought you here." Marinette gestures to her room as she babbles, her hands flailing as she talks rapidly.

Adrien crosses his legs as he sits up, giving Marinette more room on the seat. She shuffles backwards, but doesn't utilise the new space, instead remaining on the end of the chaise longue, keeping a distance between her and Adrien.

It's been like that since they found out each other's identities. Somehow a gulf has formed between the two of them even as they become closer than ever, and Adrien doesn't know how to bridge it. It was a surprise to find out that his Lady was Marinette in the daytime, but he'd been so _happy_. And although Marinette had clearly been just as surprised – she'd spent a good five minutes just staring, her mouth open in an 'o' of shock – but Adrien wasn't sure she'd taken it as well. Because why else was she taking a step back from their playful exchanges during their fights?

There is an unbreakable trust between them, and he knows that Marinette has his back until the end, with or without the masks on. But Marinette is clearly still trying to reconcile the fact that Adrien is Chat Noir, and their friendship has been… tentative. And they're still testing the boundaries of whatever their relationship _is_ , so Adrien isn't going to push Marinette just so they can meet without tiptoeing around the revelation of their identities.

But she looks back at him with such concern when she finishes speaking, and Adrien just wants to hold her, reassure her that he's okay.

But he doesn't. They aren't there yet.

Instead, he scratches the back of his head as he smiles at her.

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien says softly, and Marinette brushes it off with a wave of her hand. "Where are Plagg and Tikki?"

"Don't mention it," she replies, and her eyes lift from the floor to meet his. "They're downstairs, sneaking some cheese bread out of the bakery." She rolls her eyes as he meets her gaze, and Adrien can't understand how he never noticed those beautiful eyes were the same as the ones he gazed into under a red mask.

He shakes off the thought. Again, now's not the time.

"I don't really remember why I fainted," Adrien says, scrunching his nose as he tries to recall the moments before he awoke in Marinette's room. "What happened?"

"I don't know," Marinette replies. "I was trying to get Alya out of the way, and after I heard your attack I looked around and you – you were on the floor, and I didn't know-" She takes a deep breath, her hands gripping her knees as she looks away from Adrien.

He can't help it; Adrien scoots closer to Marinette, and places a hand on her shoulder. Her head snaps to his, surprised at the contact but not rejecting it. She pastes a smile on her face, and Adrien doesn't believe it for a second.

"Hey – I'm okay. I promise. Right now the only thing wrong is that I can't remember what happened." Adrien squeezes her shoulder gently, and Marinette gives him a small, genuine smile.

"It's natural to not remember the moments before fainting," Marinette says kindly, the words rolling off her tongue as if she's memorized them. Which, Adrien thinks as he glances at the tab open on her computer screen, she probably _has_. "You may also feel tired or weak," Marinette concludes with a nod.

"Definitely tired," Adrien says with a snort, removing his hand and rubbing the back of his neck with it. "Sounds like you encounter a lot of fainting boys, Princess." He grins. "Should I be jealous?"

Marinette rolls her eyes as a faint pink warms her cheeks, and Adrien wonders for a second if he's pushing it too far. But Marinette slides her legs onto the bed, turning to face Adrien fully. The nickname is a reminder that the boy on her chaise longue is the same one she spent the past year laughing with, and Marinette's desperate to try and claw back some of their own odd normality.

"Not ones I have to drag back to my house before they detransform," she counters, matching Adrien's jovial tone. For a moment, it's like they're back where they were a few months ago as she grins at him, but his own smile slides off his face as Adrien realises the situation Ladybug had been left in when he passed out; although he knows she would have been able to defeat the akuma easily, having to take care of him in the aftermath must have been difficult. Marinette was strong, but carrying him across Paris before their transformations wore off would still have been a challenge.

Almost instantly, the mood changes – Adrien finally takes in the fact that he fainted, and that it's something which could have put his partner in danger, even after she'd defeated the akuma.

"Sorry," Adrien says quietly, looking down at the blanket pooled over him. "I didn't mean to mess everything up. It can't have been fun hauling me across Paris."

Marinette blinks, surprised at the change in the conversation's direction. She shakes her head in response.

"No no no! It was fine, it's not a big deal! You aren't as heavy as you look! Wait, no, I mean-" Marinette stumbles over her words as she hastily tries to reassure Adrien. She slaps a hand to her forehead, groaning. "I mean, don't beat yourself up about it. From what I hear, you've been run ragged for the past couple of months. It's okay."

She brushes her bangs out of her eyes and looks up at Adrien. "The important thing is that you're alright."

Her partner doesn't look up, and Marinette knows that it's her turn to comfort him. She shifts closer, trying to calm her nerves as she raises her arm and places one finger against his chin, tilting it so he's looking at her. Marinette smiles at him, and it's so full of understanding that Adrien has to avert his gaze.

Marinette sees the tension in Adrien's frame, sees the self-loathing in his eyes, and the need to reassure him is overwhelming.

"I mean it, Adrien. It's just a thing that happened. Nobody got hurt, and nobody found out your identity." Marinette carefully scratches his chin as she speaks, and the effect on Adrien is instantaneous; his whole body relaxes and sags, and he all but purrs as Marinette tickles him. "But you have to promise to look after yourself, okay?"

Adrien takes hold of Marinette's hand, pulling it away from his chin. It's more than a casual touch, a step further than the two of them have taken in their careful dance of boundaries. But he laces their fingers together, a gesture of comfort which they both need, and presses her hand reassuringly with his.

"I will. No more fainting - I promise," Adrien says with a smile, holding his other hand up in a salute. Marinette frowns at him, and she grips his hand tightly.

"I mean it, Adrien! Plagg told me about how hectic your schedule has been with Fashion Week coming up, and that you've not been sleeping or eating as well as you should be, and I'm… I'm worried about you."

Marinette doesn't look away as she speaks, and Adrien is drawn into the quiet intensity of her gaze. "And - and I know you're busy, so if you ever need to take a break from Chat Noir, just let me know, okay? Because your health has to come first, and if you're fainting from exhaustion then you probably shouldn't be fighting akumas on top of-"

"No."

Marinette blinks at the abrupt interruption. She stares at Adrien, who's looking at her with a burning stare.

"Adrien…"

"No," he repeats, and the conviction in his voice is as solid as concrete. "I'm not bailing on you. Ever."

With a shake of her head, Marinette's other hand grips her knee.

"It's not bailing on me," she says softly, "it's taking care of yourself. You can't– _we_ can't fight akumas if we have to worry about you passing out because of exhaustion. And even if you aren't worried, _I_ am. I want you with me in a fight, of course I do, but if the choice is your health or putting you at risk, then there's no question about it. I can deal with the akumas alone until your schedule dies down a bit."

Silence slips between them like a shadow, and suddenly only holding one of Marinette's hands isn't enough; Adrien needs the contact, and lays his hand over Marinette's, resting them on her knee.

They're not really sure what they're doing when their fingers twine together, Marinette's thumb rubbing small circles on Adrien's hand as they sit across from one another. But it's comforting, a sign that at the end of the day their identities don't matter – they're partners, and, more importantly, _friends_.

Whatever there is between them – and Adrien knows it's love, he's never been so sure of anything, even if he doesn't know exactly what _type_ of love it is yet – is for the long term. Through crushes and akumas and school and fainting.

They're figuring it out together, and Adrien refuses to let his partner fight alone, no matter the consequences.

"Marinette," Adrien begins, and she lifts her head to meet his eyes. Her gaze is searching, her face lined with a concern she can't fully conceal from him.

Adrien rests their joined hands on the space between them on the bed, looking down at them before continuing. "I know you could take on every akuma alone and win. You could probably take on _Hawkmoth_ alone, and win. But you don't _have_ to. I'm not always the best partner, but I'm not leaving you to fight alone. I don't care how busy my schedule is, if you need me by your side, that's where I'm going to be."

There's a pause, and Adrien wonders if his words were too much. But he can't hold it back, because she has to know he'll always be there. She _has_ to.

Her lips flicker in a small smile, and Marinette looks down at their hands. "You're wrong you know," she says, and Adrien is about to protest before her eyes glance up at him. "You're the best partner I could ask for."

A smile grows on Adrien's face as heat begins to redden his cheeks, but Marinette interrupts before he can return the sentiment.

"But you still should take some time off. I mean, Plagg told me you have school, homework, fashion shows, photo ops, fittings, charity galas, and about a thousand other things going on right now. I just don't want you to overdo it."

"Marinette, I'm fi-"

"You passed out today. You are not _fine."_

He's never heard Marinette speak so sternly – at least, not to him. Adrien's eyes widen, and almost instinctively he releases her hands. Marinette's face pales, and she pulls her hands back into her lap as she bites her lip; but she holds her ground.

"I know your life is hectic. I understand, I do. But you're not fine – even superheroes need rest," Marinette says.

He can't really argue with that, so he doesn't try.

"I know. But I just don't have time to stop, Marinette. It's nothing I haven't dealt with before."

Before Marinette can reply, two blurs zip from Marinette's open trapdoor to the two superheroes; Tikki and Plagg float by their respective Miraculous holders, and smile at Adrien.

"You're awake!" Tikki says happily, an infectious smile on her face. "I'm so glad, Marinette was so _worried -"_

Marinette cups Tikki in her hand, muffling the rest of her sentence as Plagg nuzzles his head on Adrien's shoulder, an unusual display of affection from the little cat kwami.

"Hey, Plagg," Adrien says, rubbing the top of his friend's head with a fingertip.

"Don't do that again," Plagg replies, his tone softer than Adrien has ever heard it, before moving back from Adrien and crossing his arms. "It was stupid of you."

Adrien rolls his eyes. "Of all the people to get a lecture about stupidity from – remember that time you got caught in Chloe's bracelet because you thought it was camembert?"

"It was a perfectly reasonable assumption."

"It was _metal!"_

"How could I have known that?"

"It was shiny!"

"Maybe it was a _rare_ camembert-"

"Uh, guys?" Marinette interrupts, one eyebrow raised at the bickering duo whilst Tikki shakes her head in resignation. "Can you argue about this later?"

Plagg moves to hover by Marinette, pressing his cheek against hers.

"Of course, dear Marinette," the black kwami purrs, causing her to let out a giggle. Tikki lets out a huff of jealousy; since the revelation of their identities, Plagg has grown extraordinarily fond of Marinette, and Tikki has become somewhat territorial of the girl.

Tikki zooms over to Adrien – out of genuine concern or to make her charge jealous, Adrien isn't sure – and smiles kindly at him.

"Are you alright? You look so tired," Tikki says, and her high voice is filled with concern. Adrien holds out his hands for Tikki to sit in, and returns her smile.

"I'm alright Tikki, thank you. Just a bit run-down. It's nothing-"

His eyes glance at the clock by Marinette's computer as he speaks, and Adrien lets out a groan when he sees the time. Marinette, Tikki, and Plagg all turn to look at him, Tikki moving out of his hands to hover by his face. Adrien drops his head into his palms, and Tikki pats his hair with one tiny arm.

"Oh _damn_ ," he says, his voice muffled by his hands. "I'm so _late_."

"What's wrong?" Marinette asks, and Adrien pushes back his hair as he looks up at her, a weary smile on his face.

"I was meant to be home an hour ago. I've got to get ready for tonight."

Pushing himself off the bed, Adrien stretches as he stands for the first time since the battle. He rolls his shoulders, and notices Marinette move to stand by him as he clicks his neck.

"What's happening tonight?" Marinette asks as Adrien rakes one hand through his hair, fluffing out the flattened strands where his head had rested on the pillow.

"I've got to go to a charity gala. Father donated some money to it, and he's the guest of honour." Adrien shrugs. "There's no getting out of it."

Marinette frowns, her lips forming a small pout before she lets out a sigh. She wraps her arms around herself, looking down at the floor before her glancing back at Adrien.

"Just… look after yourself. I know you can't get out of your responsibilities, but – I'm worried about you, okay?" Marinette looks away from Adrien, her cheeks turning pink as a blush creeps up her neck.

Adrien's gaze softens, and a small smile plays on his face as he takes a step towards Marinette. He rests a hand on her shoulder, and her head shoots up at the contact. He's smiling warmly at her, and before he can stop himself, he stoops down and places a soft kiss on her temple.

"Thank you," he says quietly, his lips whispering against her skin.

He pulls back, and Marinette's face is bright red; he winks at her before turning to his kwami. "Plagg, claws out!"

The transformation is the same as it always is, but there's something so _different_ about changing in front of Marinette. It's such a personal, intimate moment, and there's something so right about Marinette being the only one allowed to see it.

When the mask is on, Chat Noir faces Marinette and takes her hand once more.

"I promise, I'll be alright," he says with a smile. Chat Noir presses his lips to Marinette's hand before falling into a graceful bow. "Thank you for everything, Princess."

Marinette lets out a small laugh as she shakes her head, waving her hands in front of her to distract her from the pounding of her heart.

"It's nothing, really. Have a good evening!" Marinette trills, before her grin falters. "But, Adrien?"

Chat Noir cocks his head to one side, raising an eyebrow.

"I mean it. Your health comes first. Please, try and get some rest."

Adrien's heart melts a little at the concern in her voice; it's nice to know that someone actually cares about _him_ , rather than how he appears to the world.

"I'll try," he replies, "but I can't promise more than that. Fashion season's kind to no-one."

Her arms hugged around herself, Marinette gives him a half-grin. "I'll take what I can get. Now get going, kitty. Don't want you to be late now."

Chat Noir salutes, and without another words climbs up Marinette's ladder and leaps from her balcony, bounding across the rooftops of Paris towards his home.  
***

When he walks into his house, Nathalie is waiting for him, wielding the clipboard which holds the plans for his entire life – at least, for the next few weeks.

"Where have you been?" she asks, her voice sharp and stern.

"Sorry, Nathalie" Adrien says, hoping he sounds sincere. "I got caught up in the akuma attack and ended up on the other side of Paris. It got here as soon as I could."

Nathalie nods once, and Adrien holds back a sigh of relief – it's not _exactly_ a lie, but if she questioned it further he's not sure he could come up with an excuse on the spot.

"Very well. But you should get dressed immediately, the car will be here in an hour to take you to the venue. You need to learn the names of all the guests, although you've met most of them before. There's a list on your bedside table for you to go through while you get ready. Be back downstairs in forty-five minutes."

Adrien nods, an automatic reflex to Nathalie's orders. She turns to walk away, and just the thought of spending the night faking a smile and playing the perfect son is enough to make Adrien blink wearily. He knows exactly how the event will play out – hours of small talk and mingling, faking interest and fighting exhaustion.

Marinette's words echo in his mind _. "Your health comes first. Please, try and get some rest."_

He decides to take her advice – or at least, try to. A promise is a promise, after all, especially when it's made to his Lady.

"Nathalie?" Adrien asks tentatively to the woman who's nearly left the room. She turns to him, one perfect eyebrow raised in a silent question. "I'm… I'm feeling pretty run down. These past couple of months have been kind of intense. Is there any chance I could take tonight off?"

Nathalie moves towards him, scrutinising him with every step. Her eyes take in the dark circles under his eyes which take an extraordinary amount of make-up to conceal, and takes in the aura of exhaustion surrounding him. Her silent assessment leaves Adrien standing under her gaze for a full minute, and he resigns himself to the fact that he's going to the gala tonight.

He's surprised when Nathalie's eyes drop to the clipboard in her hands, her lips twisted in consideration. She lifts the pen in her fingers and draws a single line on the paper.

"You've had a rigorous few months. I'm sure we can find a reasonable excuse for you not to attend tonight's event." Nathalie's tone remains completely professional, her face straight as she scribbles a note on the paper in front of her. She glances at Adrien, and he thinks he sees the ghost of a smile flicker on her lips. "Get some rest, Adrien. Your schedule will continue as normal tomorrow."

He doesn't get the chance to say thank you before Nathalie has left the room. Adrien shrugs, and hauls himself up to his bedroom; now that's he's had time to stop, to realise that his body is exhausted, suddenly his bed is the most appealing thing in the world.

He doesn't change into pyjamas before flopping onto his soft, welcoming mattress; Adrien only pulls off his shoes and jacket before burrowing his head into the pillow. He hears Plagg whiz around the room, and the kwami curses as it carries something out of Adrien's jacket pocket.

With a gentle _thump_ , Adrien's phone lands by his head, bouncing down the pillow and bumping his shoulder.

"You should let Marinette know," is all Plagg says before he zooms away.

Adrien doesn't have to ask what he means; without lifting his head from the pillow, Adrien shoots off a text to Marinette.

 _Got tonight off. You were right. Night, Princess._

It only takes a moment for her to respond. Adrien has to blink himself awake as the buzzing of his phone keeps him from falling into the sleep he desperately needs. He looks at the screen, swiping to read her message.

 _Glad to hear it. I always am :P Goodnight, Kitty – you've earned a good sleep 3 xx_

Adrien smiles – the heart and kisses are new additions to Marinette's messages.

Maybe they're making progress after all.


	18. Hey, have you seen the? Oh

"Hey, have you seen the..? _Oh._ "

Ladybug's words were cut off as she took in exactly _who_ she was about to ask whether they'd seen the akuma.

Over two million people in the city of Paris, and she landed next to the one person who turned her into a babbling mess. Maybe her luck was starting to run out…

Adrien was looking at her with an equal amount of surprise; Ladybug had dropped down from the sky like a falling star, spinning to question him without taking in her surroundings fully when she landed. She'd only seen the shock of blonde hair by the lamppost as she initially scanned the area, and when her head snapped back round to face the onlooker, Ladybug's mouth dropped open when she realised who she was talking to; Ladybug and Adrien gaped at each other, the sudden appearance of his hero rendering Adrien momentarily mute.

Ladybug was the first to recover; there was an akuma to catch, after all, and she really didn't have time to wonder why Adrien looked so _guilty_ as he pulled his hand out of his white shirt, his gaze locked on Ladybug's face.

"Have- have you seen the akuma?" She asked as Adrien looked at her with wide eyes, faking confidence as she placed her hands on her hips and smiled at her crush. Adrien nodded, shifting his weight and sliding the hand which had been in his shirt – _why had it been in his shirt?_ Ladybug wondered for a second –onto his hip.

"Yeah," Adrien said, nodding at Ladybug. "It went that way." Pointing his thumb over his shoulder (and really, it was like he was _trying_ to model), Adrien gave her a small smile. Ladybug looked in the direction Adrien was pointing, and could see the outline of the snake-like akuma sliding quickly through the streets.

With a grin, Ladybug began to whirl the yo-yo in her hand, ready to throw it to the skies so she could quickly go after the akuma.

"Thank you! I'd go inside if I were you - it's dangerous to be out when there's an akuma on the loose," she said, releasing the yo-yo into the air among the buildings. Ladybug felt the string tighten around her hand, ready for her to make her exit when Adrien's voice stopped her in her tracks.

"Wait!"

Ladybug turned, the string of the yo-yo taut as she didn't leap away; loosening the yo-yo and pulling it back to her, Ladybug turned to look over her shoulder at Adrien.

"Everything okay?" She asked, concern lining her face. Adrien nodded, blinking rapidly.

"Yes! I just thought you should know, the akuma - she's like Medusa. If you look directly into her eyes, you turn to stone. She got my friend Nino, and – well, be careful," Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at the ground. Ladybug nodded, smiling warmly at the boy in front of her.

"Thanks, Adrien," Ladybug said. "Now go find somewhere safe – I don't want you to get hurt!" Once again, Ladybug threw her yo-yo up; this time, however, she leapt away before Adrien could respond as the string went taut in her hand, pulling her up onto the skyline of Paris.

Ladybug grinned as she ran towards the akuma, safe from it's gaze as she bounded across rooftops.

It was nice to know that Adrien cared.


	19. This is the stupidest plan ever

"This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had." Chat winks at Ladybug, a grin spreading on his face as he speaks. "Of _course_ I'm in."

Ladybug shoots him a look of surprise, one eyebrow raised as she turns away from the akuma scanning the area for the duo.

"Really?" She says, " _This_ is my stupidest plan?" Ladybug speaks quietly, trying not to draw the attention of the akuma. It can't see them, hidden behind an overturned van, but they know their safety will be short-lived; the akuma has the senses of a hound, and will be sure to catch their scent eventually, even with Ladybug's Lucky Charm helping them. But Ladybug and Chat Noir have to bide their time - as long as it's looking for _them_ , the rest of Paris is safe.

So they're hidden, using their time to figure out what to do next. And Ladybug's plan is... well, it's straightforward, at the very least.

Chat lets out a soft laugh at her question, darting his head to look through the van's windows to see if the akuma heard him. When he sees that they're safe for a little bit longer - although the akuma is getting closer, a little bottle of perfume which Ladybug's Lucky Charm gave them is covering their scent - he turns back to face his Lady with a smirk.

"Well, yeah. Your other plans have sometimes been reckless, or impulsive, but this one takes the cake when it comes to sheer stupidity, Bugaboo."

Ladybug blushes slightly at the nickname, something she _never_ used to do; Chat Noir's grin widens at the involuntary reaction - it takes a lot to make Ladybug blush, so it's always a proud moment for Chat Noir when he succeeds in doing so.

"Okay, but we once had to ride a _dragon_ ," Ladybug whispers, carefully peering around the van to locate the akuma. She spots it getting closer with every heartbeat and takes hold of her yo-yo, grasping it tightly in case the akuma suddenly pinpoints their hiding place.

"And that was insanely cool. How many people get the chance to ride a dragon? Nobody would call that plan _stupid_ ," Chat points out, lowering his voice as he notes the tension in Ladybug's frame. The akuma is closing in on them, and Chat Noir pulls out his baton, ready to extend it at a second's notice.

"How about the time I jumped into a dinosaur's mouth?" Ladybug asks. Chat Noir's smile drops, and he's glad Ladybug isn't watching him as that moment, that horrifying moment when he thought he'd lost her forever flashes through his mind. Chat instantly tenses, and has to take a breath to calm himself.

 _She's okay - she's alive, she's_ _here_ _, she's alive and perfect and_ _ **alive**_ , he reminds himself, before letting out a shaky laugh in response.

"That was reckless, and terrifying, and I'd love it if we never talked about it again. But it wasn't _technically_ stupid," Chat replies, and Ladybug can hear the quaver in his voice. Her head snaps back to face him, blue eyes wide in concern, and he shrugs with an air of nonchalance which neither of them believe. "But this plan, My Lady, _is_."

Ladybug's eyes narrow as Chat brushes off the tremble in his words like a piece of lint on a shirt, and she's about to ask if he's alright when they hear the footsteps of the akuma pad towards them. The duo freeze, hearing the canine akuma sniffing the other side of the van. But whatever's in the bottle that Lucky Charm gave them works perfectly, and the akuma moves away after a few seconds, deciding that they aren't there. Ladybug turns to face Chat Noir, her face set in a look of determination.

"Stupid or not, we've got to move," she says; as if they were waiting for her to say it, Ladybug's earrings start to beep. She used Lucky Charm, and she's running out of time. Chat nods and slides to his feet, still using the large van as a cover.

"I can't believe you want me to tackle an akuma," he murmurs, shaking his head as Ladybug stands next to him.

"You ready?" Ladybug asks, placing one hand on her hip as she smirks at her partner. Chat looks down at her, and wiggles his eyebrows at her.

"A kiss for luck?" he asks, lowering his voice in an attempt at flirtation. Ladybug rolls her eyes, and Chat Noir is sure that she's going to walk away. But before he knows what's happening, a hand is on the back of his head and Ladybug's lips are on his. They're soft and insistent, and Chat Noir is sure that he's died and gone to heaven because no matter how often this happens, he's never used to the feeling of bliss which envelopes him when Ladybug's lips touch his. He doesn't have time to relax into the kiss, however; Ladybug pulls away after a few seconds, her hand sliding from his neck and resting on his chest as she takes a step back.

"Got all the luck you need, kitty?" she grins, and Chat Noir nods, speechless. "Good. Now, remember: jump, land, run, and tackle. Hopefully you'll have the element of surprise. If you don't, then _I_ certainly will, and once we grab the neck scarf and purify the akuma, we can continue from where we left off." Ladybug winks, gently pushing Chat backwards before she moves back to lean against the van. She moves down onto one knee, cupping her hands so she can give Chat an extra push when he jumps.

Chat Noir steps back onto the pavement, as far as he can go without blowing his cover. He puts one leg in front of the other, ready to run towards an akuma which has an innate hatred of cats.

"It's a stupid plan, and if I get mauled by this akuma you have to bring me baked goods everyday, Bugaboo," Chat says with a grin. "But what the hell. On the count of three?"

Ladybug nods, holding out her cupped hands, ready to help her partner jump into the fray.

"Alright, Chat, on three. One.. two... _three!"_


	20. I can't lose you

_I can't lose you._

The words flutter through his mind as Marinette's deft fingers twine themselves softly in his hair, and the realisation shoots through Chat Noir like lightening. The sunset leaks through the windows of Marinette's room, washing it in a soft orange glow as Chat Noir looks up at the girl sitting next to him.

The hand not currently preoccupied with petting the feline superhero is holding a fashion magazine, the cover folded back so Marinette can read it single-handedly. Chat Noir can just about see his unmasked face on the page of the magazine as Marinette pauses on it, her eyes drifting down the picture whilst her mouth quirks into a small smile. Adrien smirks back at Marinette, his glossy face the perfect image of casual flirtation as he leans against a CGI wall, one foot lifted up as his hands are shoved carelessly in the pockets of the designer jeans he's wearing. Chat Noir remembers that photoshoot vividly; Nino had kept him company for the shoot, and Adrien's best friend has laughed his ass off at the poses Adrien was asked to do,including leaning against a thin wooden wall covered in a sheet so that Adrien's clothes wouldn't get scruffy.

Marinette turns the page, and Chat Noir stills as her hand briefly leaves his hair so she can adjust the magazine. A second later the warmth of her hand returns, softening Chat Noir with only a touch.

He purrs, an instinct he can't quite control. It's almost silent, but in the quiet of the room, Marinette hears it. She lets out giggle, grinning as her eyes flick to the boy next to her. Chat Noir only nuzzles his head into her palm, and she tuts at him.

"Needy little kitty, aren't you?" she says, looking back at the magazine with a small shake of her head.

"Only for you, Princess."

Pink flushes form on Marinette's cheek, and she rolls her eyes at his reply. But she's still smiling, and that's when it hits him.

 _I can't lose you._

He doesn't know why he thinks it. Maybe it's the gentle way her fingers brush through his hair, careful not to move too swiftly, or tug too hard. Maybe it's the sunlight fading so much that he can't _quite_ make out the freckles which are speckle her nose, and he didn't realise how much he enjoyed counting them until he couldn't anymore.

Or maybe it's because when he ran to her, exhausted and lonely and not knowing where else to turn, she had opened her door and tugged him into the room unquestioningly. She knew when words wouldn't help; instead, she'd let him make himself comfortable on her bed, and offered him comfort in the one way he'd never refuse.

And there's electricity every time her fingers brush his scalp, her nails skimming through the golden hair which is warmed by the tired glow of the sun as it seeps across her room.

Chat Noir tenses as the thought, unwarranted and unexpected, forms images he never wants to see: Marinette, walking away in anger, in heartbreak. Marinette, bleeding and still from an akuma attack. Marinette, one day just… not there anymore. Disappearing without a trace, without a _goodbye_ -

He can't lose her, too.

Chat Noir can't speak, and suddenly the stroke of Marinette's finger in his hair isn't enough. He curls his body up, leaning to press his forehead against Marinette's knee. Chat's mask presses against the pink denim of her jeans, and his arms wrap around himself as his whole body tenses.

He longs for her comfort, but doesn't know how to ask for it. Instead, Chat Noir's breath hitches as Marinette's hand once again stills, and he wonders if she'll ask what's wrong.

He can't explain this. He can't describe the fear coursing through his veins at the thought of losing her, because it's too much, too hard to put into words. How can he tell her that he knows loss first-hand, and feeling it one more time – god, especially if it was _her,_ how could he stand that? - could shatter his already fragile heart?

It would put too much pressure on her. And he knows that too much pressure could fracture the delicate bond between them, a glass rope binding them which would be so easy to shatter.

All it would take was one wrong question.

But she doesn't ask him anything. Marinette pulls her knee away from Chat, and slides her body down next to his. Her arms move over his forearms, her head burrowing into the crook of his shoulder as the tension in Chat's body seeps away with every second that Marinette is near him. He uncurls himself, opening his arms so Marinette can press herself closer, her physical presence the only reassurance he needs.

Chat Noir can't see the future. But right now, Marinette is here, with him.

He hasn't lost her yet.


	21. You're so small

"You're so _small_ ," Chat Noir said, staring as he moved his hand from the top of Ladybug's hand, holding it steady as he brought it towards him. "I mean, I can literally see over you!"

His hand bumped just under his nose as Chat Noir compared their heights, smiling widely as he looked at his partner. Ladybug folded her arms, narrowing her eyes at him at the mention of her height.

"I'm not small," Ladybug said defiantly, frowning as she held her chin high. "I'm an average height! You're just... tall! Why are you even excited by this, anyway?"

"Because, my lady, this just confirms the fact that we're a perfect match - you're small, I'm tall, this is what relationship dreams are made of!"

"..."

"Besides, how did I never notice that you're so tiny? It's _adorable_!" Chat Noir clasped his hands in delight as Ladybug fought a pout; she let out a petulant huff as Chat Noir smiled eagerly, his eyes wide as he looked down at her.

"I am _not_ tiny!" Ladybug argued; Chat Noir, however, paid no attention to her words.

"It's great, you're small enough that I can even lean on you! Look, you're the perfect height for an armrest!" he exclaimed, moving next to Ladybug so he could rest his elbow on her shoulder. His partner's head slowly swiveled to face him, her face stony.

"...Chat?"

"Yes, my lady?"

"Get your arm off of me."

Chat Noir complied with her demand instantly, his arm slipping off her shoulder as his hand moved to scratch the back of his head.

"Sorry, Bugaboo," he said, his voice genuinely apologetic. After a pause, however, the reserved smile grew back into a grin, and his eyes lit up again as he looked at Ladybug. "But hey, you know what they say - good things come in small packages!" Chat Noir grinned, placing his hands behind his back as he leaned forwards so that his head was the same level as Ladybug's. His partner swiftly placed her finger on Chat Noir's nose, pushing him backwards whilst letting out a soft laugh.

"Oh, do they?" Ladybug replied, her hands moving to her hips as she tilted her head to the side, her lips twisting into a smirk. "Well, that means I'm _definitely_ not small, then."

Chat Noir's eyes widened at he looked at Ladybug in confusion, the abrupt change in attitude unprecedented. The distance between them diminished as Ladybug took a step closer, one finger poking Chat Noir's chest as she raised her eyebrows at him.

"You see, I'm not a good thing," Ladybug said quietly, her finger trailing up Chat's sternum to flick the bell on his neck. "I'm a _great_ thing."

With that, Ladybug turned away from her partner, whipping out her yo-yo and throwing it up towards the buildings next to them. She looked back, winking at Chat Noir before she was pulled into the skyline of Paris.

Chat Noir blinked as he watched Ladybug's figure disappear over the rooftops before letting out a sigh, his face softening as he smiled lovingly at the girl who slipped out of his sight.

"Well, I can't disagree with _that_."


	22. You're not allowed to do that

"You're not allowed to do that!" Marinette squeaked as Adrien placed his chin on her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her waist so the game controller in his hands was under hers. Marinette's character stumbled in the game as her fingers halted on the controls, Adrien's cheek brushing against hers _just_ enough to throw her off. "Adrien, that's _cheating._ "

"I don't know what you're talking about," Adrien replied, ducking to press a quick kiss on Marinette's neck. He could _feel_ her face heating up, and he bit back a laugh as his fighter got in a good kick, knocking Marinette's player down before she quickly bounced back up.

Her voice was slightly higher than usual when Marinette spoke, desperately trying to focus on the screen in front of her rather than Adrien's warmth. "Go back to where you were, this is playing dirty!" She said, attempting to sound stern.

Adrien shook his head, his chin still resting on Marinette. He frowned as Marinette squared her shoulders, moving his head backwards as she forced her attention back on the game.

She was winning. Again.

Adrien would probably be more bitter about the continual losses - really, losing 11-0 wasn't something to be proud of - if Marinette didn't look so _cute_ when she played, her tongue poking out in determination as her fingers flew across the controller with a speed Adrien just couldn't match. But cuteness be damned – Adrien was determined to win at least _one_ game before Marinette had to go home.

And if that meant playing dirty, then so be it.

Adrien leant forward, his forearms grazing against Marinette's waist whilst he tried to keep one eye on the game. He wasn't doing _too_ badly – that is, he hadn't been defeated yet – but he knew that he'd have to pull out all the stops to secure his victory.

His girlfriend was the strongest person he knew; she fought akumas, went head-to-head with Chloé on a near-daily basis, and balanced a double life whilst making it look easy.

But between months of dating and over a year of fighting by her side, Adrien had learned that Marinette had one weakness, which he fully intended to exploit to his advantage.

 _Him._

To be fair, Marinette was as much Adrien's weakness as he was hers; however, she was currently kicking his ass _again_ , which meant that Adrien had to pull out the big guns.

His lips met Marinette's neck, softly trailing up to her ear with a whisper of kisses.

"But I'm so _comfy_ ," he murmured, still trying to watch the screen in front of the two of them. Marinette's character let her guard down, and Adrien took full advantage to get multiple hits in. When the green health bar had decreased as his fighter landed numerous punches in rapid succession, Marinette turned her head to glare at him.

"So, that's how you're gonna play it, huh?" She asked Adrien, blue eyes narrowed as she looked at Adrien, his lips pulled upwards into an annoyingly endearing smile.

"I'm just playing the game, Princess. The way you're going, you might want to pay a bit more attention," Adrien laughed, nuzzling Marinette's cheek affectionately. One of her eyebrows shot up, and Adrien realised in a second of clarity that taunting his competitive girlfriend _might_ not be his best course of action.

But instead of snapping her head back to the screen, Marinette hit the pause button, twisting her body so that her face was a hair's breadth away from Adrien's her lips suddenly _very_ close and _very_ kissable…

"Well then, Kitty, two can play at that game."

Adrien didn't have time to blink before Marinette was kissing him, her soft lips pressing gently on his. The effect was instantaneous; Adrien had dropped his remote and wound his arms around her hips in a heartbeat, shuffling so that he was facing her properly. One of Marinette's hands trailed up his chest, slipping behind his neck to pull him closer to her as Adrien's fingers skidded across her back, one arm locked around her waist whilst the other drew invisible trails over the material of her t-shirt.

The background noise of the game re-starting didn't break through the soft hums which escaped from Adrien's throat as Marinette trailed little kisses along his jaw; the absence of Marinette's other hand, which usually trailed through Adrien's hair by this point, was barely acknowledged; but the loud "GAME OVER" from the announcer in the game broke through the haze of Marinette's kisses, and Adrien blinked in surprise when he saw his character ling on the floor whilst Marinette's punched the air in victory. He looked down at Marinette, who held up her controller with one hand, a satisfied smirk on her face.

"It'll take more than that to keep me from victory, Adrien." Marinette winked before pressing a kiss to her boyfriend's cheek. Adrien's eyes flicked from the screen to Marinette over and over again, a look of shock frozen on his usually composed features.

"But we were – _you_ were – how did you-?"

Marinette giggled, patting Adrien on the shoulder as the "PLAY AGAIN?" option flashed on the screen.

"I have many talents. And it turns out that you're even easier to distract than I am." Marinette gestured towards the screen, taking her controller with both hands whilst turning back to fully face the game.

"So what do you say? One more game before I have to go?"

Adrien picked up his own controller, nodding as he readjusted himself. He wrapped his arms around Marinette again and fought the urge to pout at the thought of her leaving so soon.

"Or, you could not leave," Adrien said, flicking through the character options so he could change his fighter. "You could just stay forever. If we keep playing, I'm bound to win _sometime_."

"I don't think your dad would be too happy with that. Or my parents," Marinette said.

"Mmm, true. I guess you'll just have to come back then."

Marinette let out a laugh.

"Wow, smooth," she said, a smile in her voice. "Tell you what, Adrien, you win this and I'll see if I can convince the parents to let me stay a bit longer. If you lose, you have to walk me home and get us ice cream on the way."

"…I mean, that sounds like a win-win situation to me," Adrien said, grinning as he pretended to think about it. "You've got yourself a bet, Princess."

Marinette leant her head against Adrien's, which was once again perched in the crevice of her neck. She kissed Adrien's templebefore straightening back up, her eyes glinting as competitiveness took her over.

"Alright then, Kitty. Game on."


	23. We can fix this

"We can fix this," Chat Noir said cheerily, carefully pulling Ladybug up from the floor so she could lean on him. "Let the Miraculous Ladybug work its magic, and your ankle will be healed in no time flat!"

Ladybug wrapped her arm over his shoulders, trying not to wince as she balanced her weight on her left foot. A poorly-timed trip had caused her to sprain her ankle, and the next thing she knew Marinette had to transform, and was fighting an akuma whilst injured.

"I'm not sure it works like that, Chat. I don't think I can heal something which wasn't caused by the akuma." Ladybug gingerly pressed her injured foot onto the ground and let out a gasp as pain speared through her ankle. The hand which was curled around her waist squeezed her gently as Chat's confident smile fell into a frown of concern. Ladybug exhaled, shrugging as she looked at the skipping rope in her hand.

"It can't hurt to try it, though." Ladybug shrugged before throwing the skipping rope, which had outlived its usefulness once she had used it to trip up the akuma, into the sky. " _Miraculous Ladybug_!"

Thousands of tiny ladybugs skimmed through the air, rebuilding the city and changing the akuma victim back as they scattered through Paris. The akuma victim, a track star who had been cheated out of victory by her competitor, took a step back as she watched the small insects fix the building in front of her. As the ladybugs faded into thin air, Ladybug nudged Chat Noir, pointing her chin towards the clearly shaken akuma victim. His gaze dropped to her ankle, and Ladybug tested it again, gritting her teeth against the pain as she shook her head at him in response.

Chat Noir made sure his grip on Ladybug was firm as she leant her weight against him, and, slowly, the pair limped towards the ex-akuma.

"Hey!" Ladybug called, smiling as she waved with her free hand. "Are you alright?"

The girl nodded as the two superheroes made their way towards her. "Y-yeah! Fine, thanks!" She looked around, taking in her surroundings before turning back to face the duo. "Uh, one question though: what just happened?"

Chat Noir raised an eyebrow, confused by the question – akumas were common now, _everyone_ in Paris knew about them - until Ladybug replied.

"I'm guessing you're new in town," she said, as Chat Noir let out a quiet "ohhhhhh" of understanding. The girl nodded, eyes wide as she took in the oddly dressed pair.

"Well, welcome to Paris. There's one or two things that the brochures don't mention," Chat Noir said with a grin.

"Are you guys, like, the french version of Batman or something?" the ex-akuma asked, her voice quavering as her eyes flicked between the superheroes. Chat Noir's face lit up at the comparison, and Ladybug let out a small chuckle.

"Not exactly," Ladybug said. "We're a bit cheerier, for one thing."

"We have cooler powers, too," Chat Noir added, earning a nod of approval from his partner.

"Not to mention we have a _much_ better relationship with the police."

"Unless one of them has been akumatised," Chat pointed out.

"True," Ladybug conceded. "But usually-"

A shrill beeping cut her off, and Ladybug's eyes widened in fear a polka dot on her earring faded away, leaving only one remaining. Chat Noir immediately tensed, his green eyes focusing on her earrings. He turned back to the track runner, squeezing Ladybug to him tightly as she gripped his shoulder.

"Aaaaand that's our cue to leave," Chat Noir said with a tense smile. "The police are on their way, they usually turn up a little while after an akuma fight; they'll get you home safely. Ask for Lieutenant Roger, he'll explain everything to you. But don't worry – at this point, most of Paris has been akumatised. I think there's a support group. Look it up online, it'll be a great way to meet people if you've just moved!"

"Uh, Chat? Running out of time here," Ladybug said, urgency lacing her voice. Chat Noir released Ladybug from his supportive hold, causing her to stumble as he spun to face her. His fingers pressed against his chin as he nodded, frowning whilst gazing at Ladybug's ankle.

"You're right, we need to move quickly. And you're not going anywhere fast on that thing."

"I'm sorry, that _thing?"_

"Ah ha!" Chat Noir cried, clicking his fingers as a grin spread across his face. Ladybug immediately tensed.

"Chat, what are you thinking?" she asked tentatively.

Chat Noir bent forward, his arm sweeping across his stomach as he dropped into a bow. Tilting his head up to look at his partner, Chat Noir grinned.

"My Lady, let your gallant knight sweep you off your feet."

Ladybug's eyes widened as Chat straightened up, his body taut as he took a few steps back.

"Chat, don't you _dar_ -"

Ladybug couldn't even finish her sentence before Chat Noir launched towards her, scooping her into his arms and extending his baton so they were leaping through the air, dashing away from the scene as fast as they could. Chat Noir kept his eyes forward as he darted across the rooftops of Paris, slipping into an empty alleyway when his own Miraculous began to beep. The walls of buildings passed in a blur as Chat wove through the back streets, a flash of red telling him that the girl in his arms had detransformed.

He ran for a little longer before skidding to a halt in the empty alley. Marinette's arms loosened around him as he drew to a stop. Chat Noir gently put her down, making sure that her weight was still resting on him even as his own transformation faded, adjusting himself so Marinette's arm was once again over his shoulders. Plagg spun out of the now silver ring on Adrien's finger, shaking his head as he floated in front of the two superheroes.

"Cutting it a bit fine there, don't you think?" the cat kwami said, folding his small arms across his chest. "You could have detransformed right in front of that girl!"

Adrien frowned at Plagg.

"Hey, she had no idea what was going on, we couldn't just leave her! Besides, a quick getaway was never on the cards today, there were… unfortunate circumstances."

"You know, the 'unfortunate circumstance' is right here," Marinette said, nudging Adrien with her elbow before looking at Plagg. "But Adrien's right, we couldn't just abandon that girl. Although I don't think we helped that much…"

Adrien bumped Marinette's hip with his, quirking his lips as he winked at her. "Hey, it's not our fault if we went a bit off topic. it's not every day we get compared to Batman."

"…I don't think she was actually _comparing_ us to Batman," Marinette laughed.

"She so was. You could see it in her eyes. She was thinking 'these guys are like Batman.'"

"I could only see confusion in her eyes."

"Yeah. Confusion caused by us being so cool. Like Batman!" Adrien exclaimed.

"Are you two _quite_ finished?" Tikki asked, zipping into the alleyway from above. She floated to Marinette, rubbing the girl's cheek with her head affectionately, before shooting a glare at Adrien. "I got separated from you when you detransformed, and _someone_ was running too fast for me to keep up with."

"Sorry, Tikki," Adrien replied, looking down at the ground before meeting the tiny kwami's narrowed eyes. "But I had to get Marinette out of there. Secret identities needing to stay a secret, and all that."

"Speaking of getting me out of there," Marinettte interrupted, cutting off Tikki's response before the protective kwami could protest Adrien's actions, "could you give a girl a bit more warning before hauling her across Paris next time?" Marinette tested her ankle once more as she spoke, letting out a hiss as the sharp pains shot through her. Adrien pressed a kiss on the top of her head in sympathy.

"Sorry, Princess, but there wasn't time to warn you. Besides, I thought it was dashing," Adrien grinned. Marinette straightened up, twisting her head so he could see her narrow her eyes in a faux-glare, the intensity of which was spoiled by the upwards quirk of her lips.

" _You_ would, you weren't the one being lunged at!" Marinette protested, turning her head away from Adrien, who let out a small laugh.

"Okay, okay, no lunging in the future." Adrien conceded, before pressing Marinette closer to him and lowering his head towards hers. "But I can still sweep you off your feet, right?" he murmured.

The words were spoken quietly, just enough so that the kwami couldn't hear them. Marinette's face reddened as Adrien's lips brushed her ear, and she nodded, rendered mute by his sudden closeness. She was used to Adrien now, had been dating him long enough to be comfortable in his presence; but now and again, her old habits came back with a vengeance.

It was incredibly frustrating - for her, at least.

"Good," Adrien whispered, before stepping back and sweeping Marinette into his arms, pulling her up so that he was holding her bridal-style. "Because you'll never be able to walk home on that ankle."

Adrien winked at his red-faced girlfriend before he began to walk out of the alley, leaving the two kwami in hysterics at the look of pure surprise on Marinette's face.


	24. I thought you were dead

"I thought you were dead," Marinette says with a grin as she leans forward on the railings of her balcony, looking down at the figure moving towards her. "It's been a long time, Chat."

Chat Noir barely makes a sound as he steps off of the extending baton, balancing on the precarious sliver of railing in a feline crouch before sliding down to sit. Marinette turns, her hip pressing into the cold metal, the sharp chill which seeps through her pyjama bottoms a reminder that this is real, that he's actually _back_.

The casual shrug Chat Noir gives her as a response irritates Marinette a little; alright, they don't have the most conventional friendship, but he hasn't visited her in over a _month_. Forty-three days is a long time to not see a friend. Even if she _technically_ saw him during akuma battles, it's not the same thing.

She's missed him.

It worries her that she's been counting the days, but Marinette pushes that thought aside with a shake of her head. Chat notices the motion, turning to look at Marinette with concern in his eyes.

"It's nothing," she says, answering the question before he can ask it. "So what brings you here? I thought you had forgotten about little old me." She winks as she speaks, an unsubtle attempt to move the topic away from the thoughts curling through her mind, unwelcome feelings which had caused her a lot of confusion recently in regards to the boy on her balcony.

Chat Noir lets out a laugh at her words, a soft, disbelieving sound.

"Like anyone could forget about _you_ , Marinette," he says, and his eyes fall to the ground in front of him as he looks away. "It's just... been a difficult month. I needed some time to myself, to figure some things out."

The words sound calm, but Marinette knows the feline superhero too well - not that he knows that, of course - not to hear the gentle quaver in his voice. He doesn't look at her, and Marinette notices the tension in Chat's body. His hands grip the railing, and she's sure that if she could see his knuckles through the gloves encasing them, they would be white with the tightness of his hold.

She doesn't hesitate; Marinette takes two steps forward, closing the gap between them, and rests her hand on Chat Noir's arm. His shoulders jump at the sudden contact, and his head shoots up to look at the hand squeezing his arm reassuringly,

"Chat, is everything okay?" Marinette asks, concern lacing each word. He runs his free hand through his hair, taking a deep breath as his head tilts upwards to look at the clear sky. Stars are speckled across the ebony night, tiny constants in a world which seems to constantly shift under Chat Noir's feet. He pauses before sliding off the railing, Marinette's hand falling away from him as he spins to face her fully.

"Have you ever known something you shouldn't?" Chat asks, and Marinette blinks in confusion.

A confused "Huh?" is her eloquent reply. Chat Noir begins to pace across the balcony, his hands behind his back as he walks the short distance between the trap door and the railings over and over again.

"I just - I found out something I shouldn't have, a secret, by complete accident. And I don't - I don't know what to do, because it's one of my best friends, and I'm worried they'll be mad if I tell her- _them_ that I know. So I've tried to pretend I _don't_ know, but I don't think I can keep doing it, because it's so important. But it could change so much - no, it would change everything if sh- _they_ knew that I knew. You know?" Chat Noir said, the words falling from his lips like he'd been storing them up for some time, a dam which had finally burst after too much strain.

Marinette shook her head, squeezing her eyes shut as she processed Chat's monologue.

"So... you know a secret you aren't meant to, and you don't know whether or not to tell your friend that you know because it would change your situation with them?" Marinette asked. Chat Noir stopped pacing, turning to smile at Marinette in relief.

"Yes! Exactly!" He replied, throwing his arms out and pointing his fingers at Marinette. "And I have no idea what to do. And... and you're so good with knowing what to do in these kind of situations..." Chat's words trail off as he looks at Marinette imploringly.

She wants to make a joke, wants to laugh off the situation and regain the playful dynamic she's used to with Chat. But he's come to her looking for help, and she can't let him down. So Marinette leans back against the railings, folding her arms over her chest as she ponders Chat's situation.

For a second, panic overcomes her: _what if he knows she's Ladybug?_ But she brushes off the thought quickly; surely he wouldn't come to _her_ for advice if that was the case. No, that would just be silly.

"Okay, let me think," Marinette begins, mulling over her thoughts before continuing. "What would it change between the two of you? Your friendship, or... or something more?" The words feel dry in her throat as she forces them out; the idea of Chat Noir wanting anything more than friendship with someone else is bitter in her mind, but she ignores the flare of _something_ _(it's not jealousy, it's_ not _, she loves Adrien, Chat Noir is just a friend, she_ isn't _jealous_ , Marinette tells herself _)_ to try and help her friend. Chat Noir lets out a sigh, his whole body sagging as he pushes his bangs out of his eyes.

"It would change everything," he whispers, and Marinette nods.

"But you don't think you can keep the fact you know the secret hidden." It's not a question; Marinette knows that Chat Noir is many things, but a subtlety is not one of his talents.

"I can," he replies, and the certainty of his tone surprises Marinette. "I know it's important to them. But... now I know, it could make both our lives easier. And I think... I think it would mean we could stop pretending."

There's undiluted hope in Chat Noir's voice, and Marinette wonders what he's discovered which could bring him such joy. Another trickle of unease slides through her, but she reassures herself with the fact that if he'd discovered her identity, Chat Noir would have confronted her. She has no doubt of that. So she ignores the unease, and focuses on the boy in front of her.

Just the prospect of being able to tell this person, to make his life easier, seems to make Chat Noir so damn _happy,_ and Marinette starts speaking before she's fully thought her response through.

"You should tell them. Make sure they know it was an accident, and you aren't calling them out for keeping it a secret. But... if it's honestly going to be better for your friendship... you should tell them you know."

Chat Noir blinks, as if he was expecting a different answer to fall from her lips.

"You really think so?" he asks incredulously. Marinette nods, her hands gripping her elbows tightly as she speaks.

"I do. You have to trust your judgement, Chat, and if you really think that getting this secret out is the best thing for you and your friend, maybe you should just go for it."

It's not the advice she expected to give; Marinette assumed she would tell him the opposite, that secrets were kept for a reason. But her own traitorous thoughts of revealing her identity, of stripping away the barrier which kept her and Chat Noir from fully trusting each other, seemed to hijack her voice, and she knows she can't take the words back now.

Chat Noir nods slowly, his eyes not leaving Marinette's face as he takes in her advice.

"Okay. Yes. yes, you're right. Of course you're right," he says, and his gaze meets hers with an intensity Marinette doesn't quite understand.

"I should just tell them as soon as possible, shouldn't I?" Chat Noir asks, his hands moving to his hips as he shifts from one foot to the other. Marinette shrugs, lifting her palms to the sky.

"I guess?" Marinette replies, unable to tear her eyes away from Chat's emerald gaze. "that's your call, Chat. You'll have to let me know how it goes, though!" She gives Chat a thumbs up, an action which Marinette instantly regrets. She wraps her arms around herself as Chat makes a noise of agreement, breaking eye contact with her to look at the tiles on the balcony. Marinette can hear him take a breath before looking back at her, and his whole body is wrought with tension as he smiles awkwardly at her.

"I guess it's now or never, then. When were you going to tell me you were Ladybug?"


	25. I can't breathe

"I can't breathe," Marinette gasps, steadying herself by gripping the balcony's rail as her whole body tenses. She looks at Chat Noir, blinking rapidly as she tries to calm her racing pulse. "I can't - I can't - _how did you find out_?"

Chat Noir looks at her, beginning to reach out to Marinette before pulling his hands back and raising them in defense.

"It was an accident, I swear!" Chat says, and raw desperation for her to believe him is clear in his voice. "You were going to detransform, I went another way but ended up in the same place as you! I saw a flash of red, didn't realize what was happening, and then - I saw you standing where Ladybug had been, and I knew. Marinette, I'm sorry, I swear I didn't intentionally-"

"I know." Marinette's voice is surprisingly calm when she interrupts him, and she closes her eyes whilst inhaling the crisp night air, trying to arrange her thoughts into something other than internal screaming. She nods, trying not to shake as she opens her eyes a moment later, meeting Chat's concerned gaze. "I know you would never do that on purpose."

Silence drops between them, Marinette's voice lost as she tries to move the conversation forward. She can see Chat fidgeting, clearly trying to find the right words to fill the gaping void which has cracked open on the balcony, an invisible divide which neither knows how to cross safely.

Marinette is sure of how this is going to go. Ever since Chat started becoming more friendly with her civilian self, she's pictured this scene a thousand times, the revelation that the girl who pushed him away when wearing a mask let him in when she wasn't wearing one. In no scenario did it end well; in a couple of them, Paris ended up on fire after the total breakdown of their relationship.

It isn't a pretty image.

She had always hoped that, when Chat Noir did inevitably tell her that he could never trust her again and that she was an awful person who he wanted nothing to do with, they could still work together. Marinette knew it would be her fault if – _when_ – she lost him, but hopefully Paris wouldn't suffer too.

The gentle chill of the night fills Marinette's lungs with every breath, and each passing second helps calm her. Her mind stops the constant stream of _oh God oh God oh God OH GOD_ , softly reminding her that this was always going to happen; each time Chat had visited, each time she hadn't cut ties between the superhero and her civilian identity, had been a risk.

It had turned out it was a risk she'd been far too willing to take.

There was something ironic in the revelation of her identity occurring after a fight, rather than because of something she'd done; Marinette had spent months worrying she would slip up, that she'd say something that Ladybug would know but Marinette wouldn't; but no, all her careful treading, thinking through each word she spoke, had been for nothing – one wrong turn, and Chat had discovered her identity.

If it didn't mean that he would now be furious with her for lying to him, it would almost be funny. Really, wasn't she supposed to have _good_ luck?

She's thinking through what she's going to say next, letting the words roll through her mind carefully, because Marinette knows that the next few moments could make or break the partnership that Ladybug and Chat Noir have worked so hard to create and nurture. The balance of their team has already shifted into dangerous uncertainty, the trust between them wavering as months of Marinette's deception comes to light. But before Marinette can speak, can begin her explanation, Chat Noir says the one word which matters.

"Why?"

Marinette doesn't need him to elaborate; the single word is loaded with Chat's confusion, with the uncertainty of why Ladybug had resisted his advances whilst Marinette had let him in, the two of them becoming closer and closer with every stolen conversation.

Another deep breath fills Marinette's lungs, and she gives Chat Noir a hesitant smile.

"Because you liked me without the mask," she says quietly. "And that… that meant the world to me."

Chat Noir blinks, his mouth opening to respond. Marinette holds up a hand to stop him before he speaks, and Chat pauses before nodding, letting her know that he won't interrupt her. Marinette's grip on the railing loosens; she leans back, tilting her head to look at the stars, and hates the fact that the beautiful night will soon be permanently marred with the memory of Chat Noir hating her. A sigh escapes her, and she shakes her head as she speaks, unable to look at Chat Noir.

"Before this goes any further, I want you to know that this – _whatever_ we are - wasn't meant to happen," Marinette begins, and she looks down from the freckled sky to Chat, who's staring at her intently. "It was never meant to go this far." Her breath hitches, but her words don't falter.

"You saved me a few times as Marinette," she says, "and I thought that would be the extent of us. But… well, clearly it wasn't. At first when you visited me, I didn't want to be rude. You saved my life, and it would have been mean to just send you away. But then I got to _know_ you," Marinette pauses, frowning as she tilts her head, her arms sliding from the railing to cross her chest, one hand curling over her chin as she thinks.

"Not that I _didn't_ know you, I guess, but I got to know the you that I didn't know. You know?"

Chat Noir raises an eyebrow, and Marinette waves one hand as she shakes away her clouded thoughts. "Anyway," she continues, "when you were with me as… well, _me,_ you seemed more like yourself. You didn't have me on some pedestal like you did with Ladybug, which meant that you didn't flirt with me – as much – and that you treated me like I was normal, not some perfect magical girl. And I guess… it was nice."

Marinette takes another deep breath, steeling her shoulders as she grips her elbows tightly. There's determination in her eyes, and Chat Noir doesn't know how he didn't see the resemblance between her and Ladybug until it was right in front of him.

"Every time I saw you, I hated myself," Marinette whispers, and Chat Noir has to take a step closer to hear her. "You flirted with me in a mask, and then told me about it when I changed. I… I know how you feel about Ladybug. I knew anyway, but you trusted me with your heart in both identities, and all I did was let you down." She can feel herself begin to tremble, can feel the hot sting of tears burn behind her eyes; but she won't let them fall, refuses to crumble whilst she's apologizing to the boy she's betrayed the trust of.

"I'm – I'm so sorry, Chat. I never meant to hurt you in any way. This whole thing spiraled out of control, and I should have stopped it once I realized what was happening." She gives him a small, weak smile, and her heart skips a beat when he returns it. "You liked me because I was Marinette, not because I was Ladybug." She shrugs, and looks at the paving stone beneath her, unable to hold Chat's gaze any longer as heat rises to her cheeks. "That meant a lot to me. And being with you… it was easy. It felt right. And if you hate me for this I understand, but I hope we can still be partners."

The final words come out in a rush, a desperate plea to salvage the remnants of their professional relationship. She doesn't look up, doesn't dare see the reaction on her partner's face. She's not _quite_ laying her soul bare, but Marinette knows that this wasn't what Chat Noir was expecting.

She doesn't see him move towards her, doesn't see the gentle smile playing on his face as he closes the distance between them. His arms wrap around her as Chat Noir pulls her into a hug, resting his chin on the top of her head. Marinette freezes, eyes flying open as she tenses in his embrace before relaxing, her arms unwinding to wrap around Chat's waist.

"I don't hate, you Princess," he says, and the affection in Chat's voice as he calls Marinette the nickname he gave her so long ago warms her to the core. "I don't think I could ever hate you. We're always going to partners." There's a pause, and Marinette feels a sigh leave Chat Noir, her head pressed against his chest as she listens to his heart thud rapidly.

"I mean, I was hurt when I found out, I won't lie. But… I understand. We kept meeting by accident, and then it was too late to cut ties without making me suspicious. I get it. The whole 'keeping it a secret thing' kind of sucks, but I get it."

Marinette pulls back slightly, tilting her face to frown at Chat.

"You're being way too nice about this. Aren't you mad?" Marinette hates that, despite Chat's reassurance, worry still seeps into her voice. Chat Noir shrugs, his lips quirking into a half-grin.

"Nah. I mean, you've always been set on keeping our identities secret, and you're not the kind of person who goes back on their word. And you aren't vindictive, Marinette, I know you weren't doing this maliciously. The situation just kind of… happened." He pauses, and Marinette hears the nerves in his voice when he speaks again. "You aren't mad that I found out your identity?"

Marinette steps back, her waist pressing against the cold metal of the rails as she pulls herself out of Chat's hold. He lets his hands fall from her shoulders, placing them on his hips as he stands, his body rigid. With a shake of her head, the tension seeps out of Chat Noir, his shoulders sagging as a smile of relief grows on his face.

"I would be if you'd done it on purpose," Marinette said. "But I know you'd never do that to me. So no. No, I'm not mad."

Chat Noir nods, rocking back and forth on his heels as he throws his hands behind his back, clasping them nervously. He takes a shuddering breath, and smiles confidently at Marinette.

"I could make it up to you," he says, and Marinette gawks at him in confusion.

"Huh?"

Chat Noir shrugs, looking around the balcony as he repeats his words.

"I could… I could make it up to you."

Marinette tilts her head, placing her hands on her hips as she raises an eyebrow.

"And how do you plan on doing that, Kitty?" Her words are playful, but the intensity of Chat's gaze makes Marinette want to take them back. He takes a step towards her, and reaches out for her hands. Marinette obliges, placing her palms on the soft leather of Chat Noir's gloves.

"Close your eyes, Marinette," Chat Noir says quietly, and she suddenly realizes what's about to happen. Her eyes widen, and she laces her fingers between Chat's.

"Wait – are you sure?" she asks, and Chat Noir nods firmly.

"Trust me."

Marinette feels like she should protest, should argue the case for keeping some secrecy in case Hawkmoth manages to get information on them. But she doesn't. She's tired of secrecy, and there's really no point if Chat Noir knows both of her identities, anyway.

It's a step they were always going to have to take, someday. They may as well take it now, covered by the ebony cloak of night.

So Marinette closes her eyes as Chat Noir leans forward, and she feels his lips press against her forehead. The flash of green of Chat's transformation is bright enough to burn through her eyelids, and Marinette knows that her world is about to shift permanently on its axis. She feels Chat's gloves fade away, and Marinette is suddenly hyper-aware of the soft palms squeezing hers in reassurance.

Marinette doesn't open her eyes immediately; she knows this moment is the last one of beautiful, blissful ignorance, and that as soon as she looks up, everything will change. No more secrets, no more lies.

Just them.

She feels Chat Noir step back, pulling one of her hands up to his lips and kissing it gently.

"It's okay, Princess. Open your eyes."

Marinette hesitates, waiting one more second before slowly opening her eyes.

Her mouth drops open, and she blinks rapidly to make sure that she's awake, that this isn't some vivid hallucination.

But as Adrien Agreste releases one of her hands so he can rake his through his hair in a nervous gesture Marinette has seen too many times to count, she knows that this is real. _He's_ real.

Adrien is Chat Noir.

And everything has changed.


	26. Fight me

" _Fight me_ ," Ladybug hisses, watching Chat Noir with disdain as he falls to his knees. His baton hits the ground with a heavy _thunk_ , but neither of them hear it; Ladybug is too busy advancing on her partner, and Chat Noir can focus on nothing but the girl he loves, moving towards him with anger and determination.

"Come _on_ , Chat Noir. Get up and fight," she says. Now that she's closer Chat can see that Ladybug's azure eyes, usually so bright and blue, have darkened to black, and he curses at himself for not getting there in time to take the hit for her.

She looks at him with undiluted hatred as she advances, and Chat Noir feels sick to his stomach.

"Awww, is the little kitten frightened?" She laughs, a cruel sound Chat Noir didn't think Ladybug could make. "Are you a scaredy cat?"

He's trembling, because this isn't his partner, isn't his friend. This is a girl under Hawkmoth's spell who has too much power, and Chat Noir doesn't know what to do.

He can't fight her. He can't win.

The thin black bracelet curled around her wrist has evil written all over it; Chat Noir can practically feel the power of the akuma oozing off of it, influencing his Lady's decisions, and he wants to scream because he should have been there, should have taken the hit for her. That's what he was _for_ ; to distract the akuma so Ladybug could work her magic and save the day.

But he hadn't been there, and suddenly Paris might have to pay the price for his delayed entrance to the fight.

He'd run as far as he could as soon as he'd realised what had happened, leading Ladybug away from any civilians to a deserted Trocadéro. Usually the area would be busy, filled with both tourists and Parisians alike, but nobody was stupid enough to come close to a Ladybug under the influence of an akuma.

Well, except Chat Noir. And maybe Alya, but for once she wasn't around to document the fight.

But then, all at once, there had been nowhere else to run to - there seemed to be civilians everywhere else, and Chat needed to keep the fight away from them. Chat Noir knew that he only had one option left to him as he took in his surroundings, the fountains in front of him towering upwards as he swiveled to face an advancing, angry Ladybug.

In a battle of baton against yo-yo, he knew he wouldn't win. He's a good fighter, yes, but Ladybug can be ruthless on the best of days; under the influence of an akuma, Chat Noir shudders to think about what could happen if he fights her.

So when he falls to his knees, he tries not to let Ladybug see the nerves which tremble through him as he plans his strategy. His baton is probably useless, and for the first time he doesn't have his partner to help him. No, right now all Chat Noir has is Ladybug, walking towards him with a terrifying grin, and a vague plan that he's not completely sure he can pull off.

Ladybug looks at the boy on his knees in front of her, and lets out a laugh of derision. She shakes her head, and the yo-yo twirling beside her slows down before she pulls it back into her hand with a flick of her wrist.

"You won't fight? Really? How pathetic," Ladybug sneers as she approaches him. "Alright then, this will be easy. Give me your Miraculous."

Despite the force of her request, Ladybug blinks in surprise when Chat Noir complies. He raises his hand up to her, the neon green pawprint on his ring bright against the black of his glove. She stops in front of him, one hand resting on her hip as she surveys his willing surrender.

"I didn't expect it to be this simple, Chat Noir. I thought you'd at least _try_." Ladybug rolls her eyes as she leans towards him, her face moving close to his so she can look him in the eye in her moment – well, Hawkmoth's moment – of triumph.

One of her hands grab his proffered wrist, her bracelet sliding downwards as she tilts Chat Noir's fingers towards the sky. Ladybug shakes her head, her other hand moving from her hip to inch towards his ring. She can feel the tension in Chat Noir's arm as Ladybug grasps it, but she thinks nothing of it; instead, Ladybug takes a moment to enjoy her success, a victor where every other akuma has failed.

"I'm disappointed," she begins, and the sheer glee in her voice is obvious. "I honestly believed that you would put up a fi-"

In a heartbeat, Chat Noir has grabbed the hand moving towards the ring in his spare one, and twists his ringed hand to grip the bracelet on Ladybug's wrist. Her grip has on him tightens briefly before releasing him completely, but she can't make him loosen his hold on her as she tries to pull her arms away. Chat Noir stands up, trying not to hurt either of them as the pair readjust to his sudden height.

"I'm sorry about this, my Lady," Chat Noir says as he looks down at Ladybug, who narrows her eyes in return. He looks into the ebony depths of her once sky-blue irises, and prays that his plan will work.

"Cataclysm!" he whispers fiercely, and Chat Noir fights the urge to throw his palm to the ground. Green energy crackles around the black bracelet, and Chat Noir focuses all his effort on only breaking its hold on Ladybug; he knows the damage his attack can cause, and containing its power so that it doesn't hurt her is the only thing that matters to him.

He keeps his eyes on hers as he grits his teeth, the concentration he's exerting causing his entire bod to tighten with tension, his palm angled so that it doesn't touch her – only the bracelet, a thin strip of evil which is terrifyingly close to her skin. Ladybug, in a move of self-preservation, stops pulling away; although it feels like eternity, only a few seconds pass before a sharp _crack_ is heard, and Ladybug's eyes flood with the blue Chat Noir knows so well as the bracelet disintegrates completely.

Chat Noir lets go of Ladybug immediately, stumbling to the floor as he pushes himself way from her to prevent his attack from touching her. The remnants of the cataclysm crack the pavement under his hand, but it doesn't spread along the pavement; instead, tiny crevices stem underneath Chat Noir's palm, a map of destruction carved into Paris' grounds.

Ladybug is blinking, one hand rubbing her temple as the other looks at the wrist Chat Noir had been holding. He eyes flick down to meet his, and she's taken aback by the raw concern in his gaze.

"Are you okay?" he asks her, and the words are desperate. "I didn't hurt you, did I? It didn't – it didn't get you?"

Ladybug shakes her head, her hand moving from her temple to her wrist, tracing the outline of where the bracelet had entrapped her.

"No, no, I'm fine. I'm – did you just use _cataclysm_ on me?"

"…Technically, I used on the evil bracelet thing," Chat Noir replies, smiling weakly as relief overtakes him.

 _She's not hurt. I saved her._

 _Thank goodness._

"That _evil bracelet thing_ was attached to me!" Ladybug protests, but the smile quirking her lips upwards tells Chat Noir that she isn't upset – no, she's trying to show him that she's back to normal.

"Yeah, and you were trying to take my Miraculous, so I think we're even," Chat Noir points out, tilting his head as he leans back, his hands resting behind him. Ladybug flushes as her smile turns to one of chagrin.

"Oh. Right. Sorry about that, Chat. The akuma got the drop on me – I have no idea where it is now. I think it attacked me, and then left me to do all the work." Ladybug frowns. "It seems like a very lazy akuma."

"Well, that's good. Lazy akumas tend to be easier to beat. Do you know where it'll be?" Chat Noir begins to push himself up off the ground, and Ladybug steps forward, offering him one of her hands. A grin spreads on her partner's face as he takes it, letting her help him up; Ladybug has to step back to help tug Chat from the floor, but she closes the distance immediately once he's upright, and Chat Noir is surprised when Ladybug pulls him into a hug.

"Thank you," she says, her words muffled by his shoulder. Chat Noir's arms slide around her, and he carefully squeezes Ladybug as a soft smile grows on his face.

"Anytime, Bugaboo," Chat replies before pulling back, his hands resting on her shoulders. "Just try not to let an akuma make you its plaything again. You're a terrifying opponent."

Ladybug rolls her eyes, stepping out of the hug and folding her arms across her chest, one eyebrow raised at Chat's words.

"Oh, please," she says, "I didn't even do anything to you - you 'surrendered' before we even began to fight!"

"You threw me off a building once when you weren't under an akuma's control," Chat Noir reminds her. "I wasn't going to wait around to see what tall structure you decided to fling me from when you _were_."

"…Good point."

"So, what's the akuma like?" Chat asks again, curious to know what kind of attack could get the drop on Paris' favourite superheroine. "I couldn't see it anywhere when I got to the fight, and then I was a bit too distracted by you trying to take my Miraculous-"

"You're not going to let that go, are you?"

"-to find out anything about it."

A shrill beeping interrupts the pair, and Chat Noir looks down at his ring. One of the paw's toes flashes before it disappears completely into the ring's ebony background. Chat Noir looks up at Ladybug, who's wearing a look of concern on her face.

"Do you have time?" she asks, and Chat doesn't hesitate before nodding.

"I do if we get moving." He bends down to pick up his discarded baton, twirling it between his hands as he begins to walk towards Ladybug. "Now, where did the akuma go after it attacked you?"

He hears the thud of a heavy body hitting the ground, and Chat Noir's whole body sags as he hears a hiss which can only be the sound of the akuma. A sigh escapes him, and he lifts his head to look up at Ladybug, whose body is terse as she pulls out her yo-yo, eyes fixed on something behind Chat Noir.

"It's right there, isn't it?"

Ladybug nods.

"It's about to attack me, isn't it?"

She nods again.

Chat Noir straightens his posture and spins around, his baton spinning as Ladybug whips out her yo-yo. He looks over to his partner, a smirk growing on his face.

"Do you want to take the first shot, or shall I?"

Ladybug takes a step forward, the determination which had previously been focused on Chat Noir now directly aimed at the akuma. "Oh, I definitely get to go first," she says as she tightens her grip on her yo-yo, ready to throw it into the air.

Chat Noir lets out a laugh as he dips into a fighting stance.

"Then after you, my Lady."


	27. Don't touch me

"Don't touch me!" Marinette laughed, backing away from Adrien with her hands raised defensively. "I'm covered in flour, and I don't think your Dad will be happy if you get your modelling clothes dirty!"

Adrien pouted, his face falling as he dropped his outstretched arms. The kitchen of the Dupain-Cheng bakery was in its usual state of disarray, with ingredients and utensils scattered over the countertops, but the smell of baking bread which had permeated through the large room told Adrien that Marinette had won the battle between herself and the dough.

Although by the quantity of dough sticking to her apron, it looked like it had put up a good fight.

Adrien let out a tiny sigh, shoving his hands in the pockets of his (admittedly expensive) black jeans, which he wasn't _technically_ supposed to be wearing outside of the modelling shoot. But the bakery had only been a few streets away; besides, wasn't his break meant to be time for him to relax? And where better to do _that_ than in the company of his delightful girlfriend?

Adrien hadn't expected to walk in on Marinette practically wearing the ingredients, but he didn't really care. His arms had opened immediately to hold her, and it was only her reminder that hey, maybe the super expensive model clothes _shouldn't_ be decorated with bread dough that stopped him embracing her.

Marinette giggled at his mournful look, rubbing her hands on her now-white apron, which Adrien was sure used to be pink...

"Sorry Kitty, but I don't want to get on your photographer's bad side," Marinette grinned. "Remember what happened last time?"

The memory of a grown man sobbing on the ground of a children's park because of a smudge of lip gloss on Adrien's collar was one which would never leave him. Children had been staring. Sabrina's father had been called to check the photographer was alright.

It had been an experience, to say the least.

"I know, you're right," Adrien said, moving one had to the back of his head as he glanced to the floor, which had specks of white resting on it in patches. Clearly, bread making was a messy business. "I just missed you, you know?"

Marinette took a step forward, closing the distance between them now that Adrien's clothes were safe from his urge to hug her.

"I saw you yesterday," Marinette replied with a laugh, but there was no viciousness in her words as she moved her arms behind her back. Closing the distance between them, Marinette stood on her tiptoes to press a kiss against Adrien's cheek. "But I know. I missed you, too," she said as she pulled away.

It was always a surprise to Marinette to watch Adrien's reactions after she kissed him; even a small peck on the cheek had him smiling goofily, like he'd seen sunshine bursting through a wall of clouds for the first time.

Adrien looked down at Marinette as she regained her balance, and his wide smile fell somewhat as a look of bewilderment took over his features.

"How have you got flour on your temple? What were you doing to that dough, Princess?" Adrien's hand shot out of his pocket, fingers trailing across the white flecks which were scattered across the side of Marinette's face to remove the flour. Adrien blinked as he realised what he was doing, and moved his hand away; but it was too late – the damage was done. He rubbed his thumb over his flour-stained fingertips, holding his hand away from his clothes and watching the powdery substance fall away in soft clouds.

"Hey, that dough was a nightmare to work with!" Marinette objected. "It was so wet, and I thought it needed more flour, but apparently it was _supposed_ to be wet so I had to re-do the whole thing because the consistency was wrong, and then I nearly dropped the bag of flour and-" Marinette paused, taking a deep breath to calm herself after reliving the stressful events of the morning. "Bread is _hard_."

Adrien nodded sympathetically, moving to rest his hand on Marinette's shoulder, one of the few places which wasn't stained with some sort of ingredient.

"I'm sure it'll taste great, Marinette. Your baking always does."

Adrien was thrilled to see a light blush creep up Marinette's neck and redden her cheeks at his words. She rolled her eyes, pausing as her gaze landed on Adrien's hand on her shoulder. Marinette frowned, moving her head to face Adrien as she raised an eyebrow.

"Adrien?"

"Yes, Princess?"

"Did you put your flour covered hand on my shoulder to clean it?"

He paused.

"...No?"

" _Adrien!"_

The hand resting on Marinette's shoulder moved back to Adrien's side in a heartbeat as he put on a picture of innocence, blinking at Marinette whilst giving her a tiny smile.

"It was a gesture of comfort?" Adrien said, but Marinette's unmoving raised eyebrow told her she wasn't buying it. He put his clean hand on his hip, using his slightly less floury hand to rub the back of his neck. "Alright, I'm sorry, it was just too good an opportunity to miss!"

Marinette folded her arms, shaking her head as a reluctant smile played on her lips.

"You're _so_ lucky I'm not flicking flour at you right now."

"Well, you _could_ , but I think the photographer might actually murder me if you get flour on this shirt. So, you know, please say something nice at my funeral," Adrien said with a laugh.

"Speaking of your photo shoot, how long is your break?" Marinette asked. As soon as he'd walked into the bakery, she'd known he was on a break from a shoot; the button up shirt he was wearing was far too nice for everyday wear, even for Adrien Agreste.

Adrien paused, looking at the silver watch which hung on his wrist (which, Marinette noted, had probably been put on him to compliment the emerald of his shirt – a smart move on the designer's part) before his smile turned into a grimace.

"It, uh, ended two minutes ago. Guess it took me longer to get here than I thought," Adrien said, looking up at Marinette with a sheepish grin. She gestured towards the door with her head, her pigtails bobbing with the motion.

"Go on then, Kitty, get out of here. I'll see you tomorrow for dinner, right?"

Adrien strode towards her, cupping Marinette's face in his palms before pressing a firm kiss on her lips. He pulled away, and noted that Marinette had been careful not to put her hands on him to make sure she didn't ruin his clothes. He smiled, leaning his forehead against hers for a moment.

"Definitely," Adrien replied, with only a breath separating them. "Unless I'm killed by my photographer, of course."

He stepped away from Marinette, winking before turning to walk out of the door to the kitchen. Marinette stood, flustered from the action, before her face split into a wide grin as she began to merrily clean the battleground which her parents called the kitchen.

Marinette was so preoccupied with thoughts of the next day and Adrien's impromptu visit, she didn't hear the timer go off.

The bread wasn't burnt _too_ badly, at least. But it was a few months before she dared to try and bake it again.


	28. Damn it, Plagg!

A/N: A "My cat steals underwear and I come home to find you chasing my cat to get your underwear back" au, as requested! It's set a few years after the show (as of now) where Mari and Adrien are in college. All the events of ML have happened, but Ladybug and Chat Noir never found out each others identities. Enjoy! :)

* * *

"Damn it Plagg, get back here! Plagg! _Give me back my underwear!"_

Nino sipped a steaming mug of coffee as his roommate sped out of the door, chasing the kitten which had been nothing but trouble since Adrien had brought him to the dorm a few weeks ago. Adrien had insisted that the stray just needed some love, but had since learned that the small black cat was… well, a bit of a kleptomaniac. Particularly when it came to Adrien's underwear.

The people in the dorm had lost count of the times Adrien had fled after the tiny kitten, a hilarious for sight everyone who got to see the model-turned-student speeding after a black streak with whichever pair of boxers had come out of the latest wash in its mouth. Usually Plagg didn't get that far; someone always managed to scoop him up before he escaped the dorm, or Adrien grabbed his underwear before the cat could make a bid for freedom.

Of course, Adrien was always particularly unlucky on Friday the Thirteenth. And, naturally, for the first time since Adrien had moved into the dorm, someone had wedged the door to the staircase open.

The whole hall heard Adrien groan when he saw Plagg shoot out of the hall and – of course, of _course_ the damned cat decided to run upstairs. The more people who saw his underwear the better, right?

Adrien sprinted after the kitten, taking the stairs two at a time as he rushed to keep the blur he called Plagg in his sight. Plagg stopped a couple of levels up, running through an open door into a hallway and halting outside one of the doors to a bedroom. The kitten began to mew pitifully, and Adrien took a moment to catch his breath; Plagg didn't seem to be going anywhere else in a hurry.

Adrien was bent over, his hands grasping his knees as breathed heavily, when he heard the door the kitten was waiting by open.

"Oh, hey Chat Noir!" a voice Adrien recognised said, causing him to freeze. His whole body was rigid with tension as he straightened up to see the person calling him a name which nobody should know. Trying to hold back the shock on his face, Adrien looked up to see Marinette bending down in her doorway, picking Plagg up and holding him to her chest. Adrien's mouth dropped open when the kitten, known to scratch anyone who dared to try and hold him, purred contentedly in Marinette's arms, causing the boxers to fall over her forearm when Plagg's mouth opened.

"What have you got here, mon minou? Is that… Chat Noir, are you stealing _underwear?"_

Adrien wondered if he should just walk away. Marinette hadn't noticed him yet, and when she picked up the pair of boxers draped over her to examine them, Adrien realised that he was never quite going to live down the ladybug themed boxers if she saw that they were his. Besides, Plagg was clearly in good hands; Adrien could just go back to his room, pretend he lost the cat, and could live happily ever after with his underwear drawer undisturbed.

It was a simple dream, but one which was short-lived. Plagg, apparently not content with petty theft from his owner's clothes pile, began to meow in Adrien's direction; apparently the kitten lived to embarrass Adrien as much as possible.

Marinette turned her head to follow the kitten's noise, and her face lit up when she saw Adrien. He raised a hand to wave at her, beginning to walk towards Marinette as he did so. Marinette went to wave in return, but realised that she held a kitten in one hand and a pair of boxers in the other. Her eyes flicked between the boxers and Adrien as realisation began to dawn on her face, making the connection between the flustered boy and the underwear between her fingers. Adrien's face was becoming as red as the crimson boxers Marinette held, and she had to bite back a giggle as he closed the distance between them.

"Hi, Marinette," Adrien said, pointing at the kitten who was balancing on her arm. "You have my cat."

Marinette raised an eyebrow as her eyes looked down at the material in her hand.

" _Just_ your cat?" she asked, holding up the boxers with a barely concealed smirk. Adrien's face reddened further, and with a laugh Marinette held out the underwear to him.

"You know, I'm not sure I want to ask," Marinette said, letting go of the boxers when Adrien grabbed them, her hand moving to hold the kitten more securely as Adrien stuffed the offending item of clothing in the pocket of his jeans.

"The cat likes to steal my underwear. He got a bit further with it than usual today," Adrien explained, frowning at the ebony kitten; Plagg seemed far too happy with his current situation, a constant purr coming from him as as Marinette gently stroked his back.

"Ah. Well, I'm glad you got your boxers back," Marinette grinned. "I didn't realise Chat Noir here was a thief. Although I didn't know he had an owner either, so I guess I'm not a great judge of character."

Adrien chuckled, one hand moving to his hip as the other slid into his free pocket. He turned so he was leaning against the wall by Marinette's door as she rotated so her back was against the doorframe, the kitten still resting in her arms.

"Well, maybe not with cats," Adrien nodded. "This one is cute, but a bit of a handful."

"Sounds like someone I used to know," Marinette murmured, so quietly that Adrien wasn't sure he'd heard correctly.

"Huh?"

Marinette blinked, eyes wide as her smile dropped for a split second. It came back at full force, and she looked earnestly at Adrien, clearly eager to deflect the conversation back to the cat.

"So when did you get him?" she asked, gesturing towards Plagg with her chin. "I thought pets weren't allowed in the dorms, and I'm surprised you kept it a secret." There was a touch of hurt in Marinette's voice, and Adrien pushed himself away from the wall so that he could rest a hand on her shoulder.

"I was going to tell you soon, but I wanted to get Plagg settled in first – the less people who knew, the better. If I get found out, I didn't want to drag you down with me." Adrien paused, frowning as he looked down at the tiny ball of fluff which seemed to be dozing off. "Wait, how do you even know Plagg? He's supposed to stay in my dorm, apart from when I let him out…"

"I've seen him around the halls," Marinette replied. "I figured he was just a stray who managed to get in. Chat Noir pops by now and again, but never stays for long. I guess he sneaks out of your dorm; he's a clever little thing." Marinette began to scratch the kitten under his chin, eliciting a purr of contentment. "You come and go as you please, don't you mon minou?"

Marinette's name for the kitten was like a punch to the gut, and Adrien's hand dropped from her shoulder. He knew it was a coincidence, knew that Marinette probably gave the cat an obvious name for simplicity's sake. But it was still nice to think that maybe, just maybe, there was a little part of her which had named the black cat after the hero of Paris, who had saved Marinette on a few occasions.

"Well, Plagg's a bit of a free spirit," Adrien laughed, trying to brush away thoughts which could never be confirmed from his mind. He bent down so he was level with Plagg, and held out a finger so he could rub behind the kitten's ear. "I'm not surprised you've seen him around, even if he's _supposed_ to be inside. Apparently he's not fond of rules, even when they're meant to keep him safe. Right, Plagg?"

The kitten purred again, although it was quieter this time. Plagg was tired, but still clearly pleased with all the affection he was receiving from the pair. Adrien rolled his eyes; Plagg apparently took after his namesake in that way.

"Plagg? That's… an unusual name," Marinette said, looking up at Adrien with a smile. Adrien heard the confusion in her voice, and gave her a wry grin in response as he straightened himself up.

"It has sentimental value," he replied. It wasn't _exactly_ a lie, but he couldn't tell Marinette he'd named a cat after his lazy little kwami, who was still by his side despite not having transformed in years; it would sound crazy to say that he'd named the kitten so that he could talk to the original Plagg without raising any questions. Okay, his flatmates wondered why he spoke to the cat so much, but they just rolled with it. Adrien decided to change the topic. "At least it's original, unlike naming a black cat 'Chat Noir'."

Adrien was surprised to see a light blush form on Marinette's face. She looked down at the kitten, and a small smile quirked her lips upwards before she met Adrien's gaze again.

"It has sentimental value," she grinned, and Adrien swore his heart stopped beating for a moment.

Had… had Marinette named a cat after _him?_

Adrien couldn't ask, of course; there was a good chance he'd implode from shock and joy if Marinette said yes. But even then, just the thought was enough to make him smile.

"Well, I guess you'll be wanting Plagg back," Marinette said after a moment, and Adrien nodded automatically, still in shock from the mini-revelation.

"Yeah," he replied. "Gotta feed him soon. He's grouchy when he doesn't eat, and Nino's arms are already pretty scratched."

"Well, we wouldn't want Nino to have any more scratches," Marinette nodded, holding out the now slumbering feline to Adrien. Carefully, so as not to disturb Plagg, Adrien curled his arms around the kitten. He smiled as he looked down at Plagg; how could something so adorable cause so much trouble?

"Thanks, Marinette," Adrien said, before meeting her gaze. He bit his lip, opening his mouth to speak before Marinette held up a hand to cut him off.

"Don't worry – your secret is safe with me," she told him. Adrien sighed with relief, a half smile tugging on his lips.

"Thank you."

"It's no problem. Just let me come and play with him now and again, okay?" Marinette winked, and for a moment Adrien was stunned at how far they'd come; four years ago Marinette would _never_ have winked at him, and he was glad that they had moved forward from their shy encounters.

"Deal," Adrien agreed, taking a step away from the wall and angling his body to partially face the hall entrance whilst still looking at Marinette. "I'll message you about coming over - Nino and Alya want to go out for drinks soon as a group, you could come over beforehand and feed Plagg. You know. If – if you want." Adrien silently cursed himself for tripping over his words, but there was something about Marinette which left him tongue tied.

Marinette nodded, folding her arms and leaning her hip against the doorframe.

"Sounds good. I'll see you soon, then." Marinette smiled warmly, and Adrien began to move towards the hallway door.

"Hey, Adrien?"

He turned when Marinette called his name, one eyebrow raised questioningly whilst he tried not to disturb Plagg with too much movement.

"I love the Ladybug polka dot underwear," Marinette winked. "But I prefer a pawprint pattern, myself."

She shut the door in front of her, leaving Adrien standing in the hallway of her dorm with a cat in his arms, his underwear in his pocket, and a heartrate which had skyrocketed.


	29. I can't marry you

"I can't marry you," Ladybug laughs, swatting Adrien gently on the shoulder as he presses his lips against her neck.

The roof of his mansion probably isn't the best place for a secret rendezvous, but dusk is beginning to scatter across Paris, making it that bit safer for the couple to meet; the sky's pale blue melts into the rose pink of the sunset, and the colours which seep into each other above the city are too pretty for anyone to look at anything else as they walk the streets.

"I didn't mean right now," Adrien breathes, a grin on his face as he pulls himself back, one arm wrapped firmly around Ladybug's waist. "I'm just saying, we'd make one hell of a power couple someday."

"Oh, yeah," Ladybug replies as she rolls her eyes. "Ladybug Agreste. What a beautiful bride I'll be, wearing a white dress over the polka dot suit. Maybe the dress should be red - to match the mask, you know?"

There's an unexpected sarcasm lacing her words, combined with a bitterness which causes Adrien to unwind his arms from her hips and step back.

Ladybug regrets saying it almost instantly, the laughter of a moment before disappearing into the evening air; but for some reason, Adrien's whispered words have left a bitter taste which burns in her throat, a gentle anger which has sadness coursing through it. She meant to laugh, to joke; yet the sweet sentiment of forever, said so easily in Adrien's gentle voice, rubs Ladybug in the wrong way.

She can't help it; it still hurts that Adrien thinks of forever with Ladybug, but not Marinette. It's a dull ache which she ignores every time they meet, something she suppresses with all her might - Adrien wanting her in one way is still him wanting her, after all. It's enough.

Isn't it?

Ladybug certainly thought it was enough. But the ripple of doubt in her throat seems to be spreading throughout her body, twisting her gut as Adrien's words fall into perspective.

" _Marry me."_

Ladybug knows Adrien. Through Marinette's conversations and Ladybug's interactions with him over the past year, she's learned a fair amount about him - enough to know that he wasn't entirely joking when the words slipped through his lips.

He's always loved Ladybug, so much so that he probably means the proposal, even if he doesn't realise it himself.

 _But why is Marinette not good enough_? Ladybug thinks, sadness blossoming in her before she clamps down on that thought, one she constantly fights to keep at bay. But right now, a proposal from the boy she loves ringing in her mind, Ladybug realises that this is why she's suddenly freaking out.

He's chosen Ladybug over Marinette. And damn, it hurts.

Adrien is thinking seriously of a future with a girl he doesn't really know. Or at least, a girl he doesn't know that he actually _does_ know.

It's complicated, to say the least.

Ladybug looks up at Adrien, realising she's gone silent, and sees that he's clearly confused at her reaction

"Sorry," she says quietly, giving him a shy smile. "It's been a long week."

Adrien nods in response, his eyes wide with concern. He takes a step towards her, one hand slowly moving upwards to cup her cheek. Ladybug presses a kiss into his palm before grasping Adrien's wrist, pulling his hand away.

A frown immediately forms on Adrien's brow, his concern increasing exceptionally.

"Ladybug, it... it was just a dumb joke. I shouldn't have said it, I know, I just got a bit carried away-"

"It's okay," Ladybug says, twining her fingers through Adrien's in a gesture of reassurance for them both. "Really. Just... I'm not great with random marriage proposals, as I very recently discovered." She gives his hand a squeeze, and a tiny smile creeps onto Adrien's face.

"Okay. I'll remember that," he says, winking at her. "No marriage proposals."

Neither moves to close the small distance between them, their entwined fingers held aloft as they simply look at each other. Adrien gazes at Ladybug like she's the moon, entranced and adoring, his thumb rubbing little circles on hers as he carefully takes a step towards her. Ladybug returns his grin, but drops his hand before he can close the gap; Adrien's face falls, and it's like a knife is twisting through Ladybug's heart.

In an instant, Ladybug has wrapped her arms over Adrien's shoulders, and buries her head in the crook of his neck. She's trying so, so hard to ignore the reminders that she can never take off her mask with him, that Adrien his made his choice about her now; holding Adrien soothes the uncertainties his proposal has brought up, if just for a moment.

Adrien returns her embrace, one hand rubbing her back softly, soothingly, before Ladybug tugs herself away. Pressing a kiss on Adrien's cheek, Ladybug steps back and pulls out her yo-yo.

"It's getting late. I - I need to go."

Usually Ladybug would try and sneak in a few more kisses before she made her exit, which Adrien would happily comply with; but tonight she feels a little shaky, her thoughts growling in her mind, and has a desperate urge to get out of there. Without giving Adrien a chance to speak, Ladybug hurls the yo-yo off the roof and jumps, swinging away from the tiny balcony at the top of the Agreste Mansion.

The humid air feels thick against Ladybug as she runs and leaps across Paris, heading home as quickly as possible. Summer is arriving, but darkness has blanketed the city quickly, helping Ladybug avoid curious eyes as she speeds away from Adrien.

It's not the first time Ladybug has had such thoughts, uncertainties which she can't always hold off; but they've never been quite this strong, have never made her question her relationship with Adrien so much.

Ladybug drops her transformation as she lands on her balcony, catching Tikki in her palms and holding the kwami to her chest as she softly pushes open the door to her room.

Tomorrow, Marinette will figure out her thoughts; right now, she just wants to sleep.


	30. You were so small

"You were so small!" Adrien laughed, holding up a photo album in his hands as Marinette walked into her living room. A look of horror grew on her face as Marinette realized what Adrien was holding, recognizing the images of herself as a baby scattered across the pages.

"Where did you get that?" She asked, rapidly moving to lean over the sofa, her hand shooting out to grab the leather-bound book. Adrien, anticipating her action, moved it out of her reach with a grin.

"Your mother very kindly offered to show it to me while you helped your father in the kitchen," Adrien replied, nodding his head towards Sabine Dupain-Cheng, who was sitting in an armchair sipping a cup of tea.

"Oh. Uh, hi, Mama. I didn't see you there," Marinette said as she continued to try and reach over Adrien to grab the album, her knee leaning on the back of the sofa, pushing herself as far forward as she could without falling onto her boyfriend. Sabine raised an eyebrow at her daughter as she placed the teacup on the saucer she was holding, her lips quirked in a kind grin.

"Clearly," Sabine said, clearly biting back a laugh as her daughter inched closer and closer to the book Adrien was managing to keep out of her hands by scooting towards to the edge of his seat. "How are the macarons coming along, dear?"

"Oh, perfectly. They look and smell amazing. You know Papa, he couldn't get macarons wrong if he tried," Marinette said calmly, managing to keep her focus fully on the photos of her tiny self. "And _why_ exactly did you decide to show Adrien my baby pictures?"

"Well, he looked bored, so I made him some tea," Sabine said, gesturing to an empty teacup on the table in front of them "And you were such a cute child, I thought that Adrien might enjoy looking through the album." Sabine took another sip of tea, watching as Adrien realised that he couldn't keep the book out of Marinette's outreached hand forever as he was swiftly running out of sofa to sit on. He decided to change his tactic, shutting the photo album and cradling it to his chest.

"How considerate of you," Marinette murmured so that only Adrien could hear her.

"What was that, Marinette?"

"Nothing, Mama!"

Adrien met Sabine's eye's, her face full of warmth as Marinette climbed onto the sofa next to him, and smiled. Marinette's gaze was still fixed on the album which Adrien was holding tightly, and he scooted to the side so that he could open it again without fear of her grabbing it.

"So what exactly have you seen?" Marinette asked Adrien, flicking her gaze to him as he turned to the last page he'd looked at. Marinette's tiny baby face grinned up at him as she wielded a wooden spoon which was nearly as big as her, Tom standing behind her with flour all over him and a look of shock on his face. Adrien turned to show Marinette where he'd got to, and immediately her face reddened.

Of _course_ the book was open on the photo of her helping her father bake for the first time; most of the cake mix was on her four-year-old self rather than in the bowl. It was not a good picture, to say the least. Marinette's eyes widened in fear as she remembered the photos which came next.

"You know, after this the pictures are just really bad, all of them have Papa's thumb blurring the image, I'll just take that and we can watch a film-" Marinette leant over to grab the album, but Adrien moved it away too quickly for her to take it from him.

"Well, now I _have_ to know what comes next," Adrien laughed, turning the page before Marinette could stop him, Sabine smiling quietly throughout the exchange. When Adrien saw the images spread on the page in front of me, both his eyes and grin widened as he turned back to look at Marinette.

"Oh my god. Marinette, that's _amazing_!"

" _hnnnnnnnnnng."_

"I didn't know you wanted to be a model," Adrien said with a chuckle, turning the book towards Marinette, who promptly shut her eyes and placed her face in the palms of her hands. Baby Marinette was striking various poses in the pictures, clearly wearing her mother's clothes and make up as the photos showed her attempts at modelling. She had a feather boa which was wrapped around her like lights on a Christmas tree. It was _glorious_.

"Oh yes, before she started designing, little Marinette desperately wanted to be on the catwalk," Sabine chimed in as Marinette curled into a ball. "I don't know _where_ she found half of those old clothes, but I'd always walk in on her trying on some mad combination. She fell over in my heels more times than I could count!"

"Mama, _please!"_ Marinette whimpered, causing Adrien to shuffle closer to her, placing an arm around her.

"Hey, come on, it's adorable! You're the cutest model I've ever seen - baby Marinette would have made it big!" Adrien said, squeezing Marinette's shoulder, not caring that Sabine was watching the pair of them. Before he could continue, however, Marinette jumped out of the seat, snatching the photo album out of Adrien's hands and fleeing from the room.

"Victory!" she cried as she ran, and Adrien and Sabine exchanged a bemused look as they heard her footsteps bound up the ladder to her room.

"Well, I think she outsmarted us there, Adrien," Sabine laughed, shaking her head at her daughter's antics. "You might want to follow her before she uses this opportunity to burn the album."

Adrien grinned, nodding at Marinette's mother. "We can't let that happen, can we?" he said. Adrien wasn't used to being so casual around parents, but something about Sabine was so comforting, so reassuring, that he felt at ease in her presence.

"Thank you for the tea, Mrs Dupain-Cheng," Adrien said politely as he stood up.

"Please, call me Sabine."

Adrien couldn't help but smile as Sabine grinned at him, and once again he nodded at her.

"O-okay. Thank you, Sabine!" Adrien gave her a little wave before quickly heading towards Marinette's room.

Sabine gave Adrien a nod as he passed, raising her cup to her lips to take the final sip of tea. Exhaling contentedly, she collected Adrien's cup along with hers and carried them to the kitchen, where Tom was cleaning up his baking tools. Setting the teacups on the counter, Sabine reached up to kiss her husband on the cheek.

A lot of her daughter's talents came from Tom, Sabine thought to herself; but she was glad to know that Marinette had inherited her mother's good taste in men.


	31. Why are you staring at me?

"Why are you staring at me? Did I do something wrong? I'm so so sorry, can I make it up to you?" Adrien babbled, confused as to why Ladybug was observing him with wide eyes, a look of surprise on her face.

The fall had shaken them both; Ladybug had only just managed to push Adrien out of the path a rampaging akuma, the two rolling out of the way as it's fist landed where Adrien had been standing. She'd made it in time, but it had been tight; Ladybug had transformed seconds before, running back to the park – _why was it always the park?_ – where she'd managed to lose Adrien, Alya and Nino earlier, only to see her crush distracting the gorilla-like akuma as others fled the scene.

It probably wasn't the most graceful thing she'd ever done, but Ladybug had successfully shoved Adrien out of the way and onto the ground. Recovering quickly, Ladybug pushed herself to her knees. She let out a gasp as she looked over at Adrien, who was lying flat on his back.

"Oh my god, Adrien!" she squeaked, running over to check that she hadn't accidentally knocked out the boy she was trying to rescue. Ladybug had let out a sigh of relief when Adrien sat up, rolling his shoulders as he shoved himself into an upright position. "Are you alright?"

Adrien looked up, taking the hand Ladybug extended out to him.

"Yeah," he said, his voice breathless, both from the fall and the sight of Ladybug looking down on him with the sunlight glowing behind her like a renaissance painting. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks."

Adrien brushed off specks of dirt from his jeans whilst Ladybug turned her head to survey the area. The akuma had been distracted by – of course it would be Alya. That girl was like an akuma magnet. Ladybug let out a soft sigh before smiling at Adrien.

"Well, duty calls!" Ladybug laughed, nodding her head towards Alya. She winked at Adrien and, taking in his slightly crumpled appearance, gestured to her fringe. "Uh, you may want to fix your hair a bit. It's kind of a mess," she grinned.

Adrien's hand immediately shot up to his blonde locks, his fingers fluffing the strands which had fallen out of place during the fall. For a brief moment, Adrien's hair was ruffled, his usual wave of a fringe splayed across his forehead in crescent clumps. Adrien gave Ladybug a wide grin as he thanked her, brushing his hair back in place. For a second, his fringe moved into the center of his forehead, and Ladybug realised with a moment of twisted clarity that the hair and the smile and the eyes looked _familiar_ somehow, and-

Oh.

 _Oh._

Ladybug had let out a squeal, clapping her hands over her mouth whilst Adrien's face immediately dropped. He noted her wide eyes, and pulled his hands from his hair.

"Why are you staring at me?" he asked. "Did I do something wrong? I'm so so sorry, can I make it up to you?" Adrien looked at his hands as he spoke, wondering what had caused the superhero to react in such a way. There was a brief pause, the silence between the two of them only interrupted by the screams of Parisians whom Adrien was sure Ladybug should be prioritizing right now.

Ladybug tilted her head to one side as she scanned Adrien, her gaze resting on his blonde hair for a moment.

"What?" Ladybug asked, blinking herself out of her reverie. "Oh! Oh, uh, nothing. You did nothing wrong. How could you, _I_ pushed _you!_ It's nothing. _Nothing_."

Adrien nodded slowly, his gaze moving to meet Ladybug's still-intense stare.

"O-okay?"

"Cover your eyes," Ladybug said, her voice high as she gave Adrien the sudden command.

"Wait, what?" Adrien's gaze wandered behind Ladybug to see Alya running from the akuma. "Ladybug, is now really the tim-"

"Just do it!"

After months of obeying Ladybug's orders, it was almost an instinctual response to do as she said; Adrien covered his eyes immediately, darkening his surroundings without knowing why. He heard Ladybug gasp.

"Oh my god. Oh my _god-"_ she said, the muffled words falling out of Ladybug like an overflowing sink. "Oh my god oh my god ohhhhh my god oh my _god…"_

Adrien opened his fingers slightly, looking through the tiny slits to see Ladybug hopping around in a circle, her hands clutched over her mouth as she stared at the ground.

"Is everything okay?" Adrien asked, moving his hands to his sides as he followed Ladybug's frantic movements. She spun to face him, one finger pointing at him.

"You!" she said shrilly. "It's _you!"_

Adrien blinked. "Yes? It's me?"

"Noooooo," Ladybug moaned, her hands now flailing as she rapidly shook her head, her shoulders hunched over as she began to pace backwards and forth on the dusty path. "No, it's _you_! How did I not see it before? It's _you_ and oh my _god-"_

"Yo, Ladybug! A little help?"

The cry brought Ladybug back to the moment, and her head snapped around to see Alya in the clenched fist of the giant gorilla, her phone held above her head as she recorded her capture.

"Right. Focus, Ladybug. Fighting akuma. Saving Paris. Get on with it," the superheroine whispered to herself, rubbing her temples with her fingers as she herself up. Ladybug took a deep breath before pointing at Adrien with one hand and grabbing her yo-yo with the other.

"This isn't over," Ladybug said to Adrien, turning away from him. She spun her yo-yo and threw it, pulling herself up to chase after the akuma. It had started to bound out of the park and into the road, Alya still in its clutches, filming everything with a concerning smile on her face as Ladybug ran after her.

Adrien blinked as Ladybug leapt away, completely and utterly bemused. One hand moved to trail through his fringe again, and he blinked as he replayed the last few moments of his life.

Adrien could only come to one conclusion: he had no idea what had just happened.


	32. Kiss me, please

"Kiss me, please?" Chat Noir asked, batting his eyes at an amused Marinette. "I came all this way, after all."

Marinette stood by the door to her balcony, arms folded across her chest as she bit back a smile. A chuckle escaped her, and she dropped her arms whilst walking towards the superhero perched on the railing.

"You couldn't wait an extra-" Marinette stopped just in front of Chat Noir, tugging her phone out of her pocket to look at the time. "-half an hour to see me?" He shook his head rapidly in response.

"I thought about it," Chat Noir said, his voice earnest. "But I finished getting ready for our date about fifteen minutes ago. And then I thought to myself, 'Hey, you _could_ hold off on seeing your beautiful girlfriend for a bit longer, _or_ you could sneak onto her roof and see her _now.'"_ He grinned. "I think I made the right call."

The roll of Marinette's eyes was contradicted by the grin playing on her lips. Chat Noir slid from his seated position on the railing to stand next to her, holding his arms out. Marinette stepped into the hug, and Chat Noir curled his arms around her waist and pulled her close. Marinette poked him in the chest, an affectionate smile on her lips.

"And you couldn't have just come into the bakery and picked me up a bit earlier because…?" she asked.

Chat Noir shrugged. "It wouldn't have been as romantic."

Marinette raised an eyebrow, "I didn't realise that snapchatting me a picture of you on my balcony to tell me you were here was the pinnacle of romance." Her hands moved to slip around Chat Noir's shoulders as she spoke, and he pouted at her words.

"I thought it would be cute…" he mumbled, his eyes dropping to the floor. Marinette pulled him into a hug, kissing his cheek before resting her chin on Chat Noir's shoulder.

"It _was_ cute," she murmured into his ear, "Using the cat filter was a bit unnecessary, though. But I was worried that someone would see you. I wouldn't want anyone to catch you and think I was cheating on my wonderful boyfriend, after all."

Chat Noir sighed, reluctantly pulling back so he could press a soft kiss on the top of Marinette's head. She looked up to see him nodding at her logic.

"Fair enough." Chat Noir's shoulder's sagged for a moment, before an idea popped into his head. His demeanour lit up in an instant, and the superhero waggled his eyebrows at Marinette as she looked up at him, a sly grin spreading across his face. "I'll save the sneaky balcony visits for nights, then."

He expected Marinette to blush, or at the very least roll her eyes at him. What Chat Noir _didn't_ expect was her hands to trail down to his chest as she winked at him, smirking coquettishly .

"I'm counting on it," Marinette said quietly, her fingers trailing back up Chat's chest and across his shoulders, causing Chat Noir's face to turn a vivid shade of red. Marinette laughed at the look of pure shock on her boyfriend's face.

"Wow, really? I always forget how easy it is to make you blush," Marinette said, resting her head on Chat Noir's shoulder as she giggled, her hands moving around him in a hug. She gave him a peck on the cheek as she pulled her head back, grinning from ear to ear at the tinge of pink still on her boyfriend's cheeks. "Look, head to the alley a road away and de-transform. I'm basically ready to go, be back here in five and we'll head to the park before the movie starts."

Chat Noir nodded.

"Okay, yeah. Yeah, sure. Sounds good," he said, his voice slightly hoarse. "Pick you up in a few minutes, then."

"Great," Marinette said, "I'll just grab my purse, and I'll be at the door when you arrive."

Chat Noir let his arms fall to his sides, releasing Marinette from his embrace; but, as he began to take a step back, her arms moved around his shoulders once more to still him.

"Hold on a second there, kitty," Marinette grinned. She tilted her head up and, giving Chat a couple of seconds to realise what was happening, moved to press her lips against his. Chat Noir's hands instinctively moved back to grip Marinette's waist, one sliding up her back to hold her more firmly as her fingers began to rifle through his hair.

Marinette kissed him gently, her lips a whisper on his before pressing them together firmly, occasionally pulling back just so she could kiss him over and over again, insistent and teasing all at once.

She pulled away fully after a moment, noticing Chat's hands gripping her tightly as he leant forward to rest his forehead on hers. His eyes fluttered open to see Marinette smiling widely.

"Well, you _did_ come all this way," Marinette said softly. Chat Noir grinned, straightening himself up.

"You couldn't wait five minutes?" he teased, grinning as Marinette swatted him playfully on the arm.

"Oh my god, just go and de-transform!" she laughed, stepping out of his embrace and walking towards the trapdoor to her room. "I'll see you in five!" Blowing Chat Noir a kiss, Marinette moved out of his sight, waving at him as she disappeared into her room.

Chat Noir smiled warmly as he leaned back on the railing, before shaking himself and looking around the street. Seeing that there was nobody to watch him drop into the alleyway nearby, he vaulted across Marinette's balcony and propelled himself using his baton to jump into it. A flash of green light highlighted the brick walls, and Adrien Agreste strolled out, hands in his pockets, and headed towards the Dupain-Cheng bakery.

He had a date to pick up.


	33. New Years in New York

The lights of New York were bright, the city lit up with all the glimmer and glamour that New Year's Eve brings. Christmas decorations which hadn't yet been taken down were coloured by the vivid adverts which flickered on screens placed on the tallest skyscrapers, the logos rolling and changing in a vibrant display.

Masses of people had begun to flood the centre of the city, gathering in droves to get a view of the Ball Drop, which was getting closer and closer as the evening ticked on. As the sky darkened, the city remained colourful, the flashing of cameras and lights keeping New York as colourful as it was the daytime.

Adrien Agreste was not in the ever-increasing crowd; instead, he was standing on a hotel rooftop, taking in the cityscape and wishing that he wasn't there.

It wasn't that he didn't appreciate his father's Christmas gift of an impromptu trip to New York - it was just that he'd thought it would have involved sightseeing, and family time. Instead, it had been an unsubtle way for Gabriel to introduce his son, and therefore his brand, to some of America's fashion elite. The parties and fashion shows had been fun at first, but it was hardly new territory for the Agrestes.

The worst part was that Adrien was away from his friends, who had been able to welcome the New Year together just under six hours earlier. And instead of being with them, he was at yet another party surrounded by people he didn't know whilst his father mingled and Nathalie kept a watchful eye on him.

The call he'd made to Nino at midnight in Paris had been fun; Nino had narrated exactly how tipsy each person was, Alya had started singing 'Happy Birthday' ("Alya is, at this point, best described as being completely and utterly wasted," Nino stage whispered through the phone as Marinette giggled in the background), and Marinette had briefly stolen the phone so she could personally wish Adrien a Happy New Year.

It had been very sweet, until Alya had taken the phone away from Marinette and demanded why Adrien was so rudely not in Paris. He hadn't had time to defend himself – really, the party was nice, but he would have much rather been with _them_ – before Nino had taken control of the phone once more, and apologetically told Adrien that he needed to hang up so he could make sure that everyone was getting home safely.

It was now nearing six in the morning in Paris; Adrien knew his friends would be deep in sleep, but he had yet to see the new year in. A glance at his phone told him he only had four minutes until midnight, and should really head back inside to the party. As if she'd read his mind, Nathalie appeared by Adrien's side as he turned around to return indoors. He jumped backwards, one hand shooting to the railing as he blinked in surprise at her. Nathalie merely raised an eyebrow at his response, and held out a champagne flute filled with the pale, sparkling liquid.

"Your father has noted your absence," she said. "With midnight approaching, I would suggest you come back inside so that the two of you can present a united front to his guests."

Adrien nodded silently, hunching his shoulders as he took the glass from Nathalie's hand, sliding his phone in his pocket and following her back indoors. The warmth of the staircase engulfed Adrien; he'd barely noticed how cold it was outside, too distracted by his thoughts. It didn't hurt that the sweater he was wearing was incredibly cosy as well as being the height of winter chic.

Gabriel saw Adrien enter the room he'd rented for the party – well, it was _technically_ a room, but really it was an entire floor of the hotel they were staying in – and motioned his son over to him. Adrien put on his best Happy Son smile and picked his way across the groups of models and designers milling around. A giant television hanging on the wall showed a countdown to the new year, seconds ticking away as anticipation grew in the room.

"I thought you might not re-join us," Gabriel noted, placing his hand on Adrien's shoulder. Adrien shook his head, still smiling for the ambling guests.

"I just needed some air."

The timer on the screen flickered to sixty seconds, and anyone not watching the TV and the shining ball hovering in the air, waiting for its moment, was quickly pointed to face it. Laughter and chatter filled the room for another fifty seconds. Adrien knew this exactly, as he counted each second until the room began counting down with the clock.

"Ten! Nine! Eight!" Adrien joined in with the countdown, a sliver of excitement at the sight onscreen making his smile genuine. "Seven! Six! Five!" Gabriel's hand moved off his son's shoulder.

"Four! Three! Two! One – Happy New Year!" The words were screamed in unison, a chorus of cheers and exclamations which were almost deafening. Corks flew across the room as people refilled their already empty glasses, and Adrien took a sip from his own champagne flute. Gabriel held out his glass for Adrien to clink his against, and the two Agrestes murmured the sentiment echoing around the room before they separated. Gabriel elegantly moved around the room, nodding and tapping his champagne against his peers' drinks, whilst Adrien did the same on the other side.

He was exchanging pleasantries with one of his father's models a few moments later when he felt his phone buzz in his pocket. Adrien politely extracted himself from the conversation and darted back up the staircase leading to the roof. He didn't leave the stairwell however, preferring the warmth to the cold January night.

When Adrien tugged his still-buzzing phone out, he was more than a little surprised to see the little picture of Marinette beaming up at him, requesting a video call. He pressed the green phone icon, and Marinette's face took over his screen.

"Hey, Marinette," Adrien said, confusion evident on his face even through the tiny camera. "Is everything oka-"

"Happy New Year!" Marinette interrupted, rubbing the heel of her palm against her eye as she smiled groggily at Adrien. "Sorry it's a few minutes late – Alya hit the snooze button on the alarm."

"I'm not sorry," Alya's muffled voice growled from off-screen.

"Anyway," Marinette continued, "I know you were sad that you weren't seeing in the new year with us, so I just thought I'd call at midnight so you weren't just with strangers." A yawn dragged out the last syllable, and Marinette covered her mouth with the back of her hand as she blinked heavily. "So yeah. Happy New Year!"

Adrien could only gape at Marinette's sleepy gaze, a grin of his own widening on his face.

"Happy New Year, Marinette," he replied, ignoring the lump in his throat which made his voice thick. "You're way too sweet, this is so – so _nice_ of you. Wait, how much sleep have you had?"

"Not enough!" Alya hissed, and Adrien let out a laugh as Marinette had to duck to avoid the pillow thrown at her.

"Happy New Year, Alya," Adrien said with a grin.

"Didn't we do this earlier?" Alya grumbled.

"Yeah, but it wasn't New Year for Adrien then," Marinette said. "Now it is!"

"Happy New Year, Adrien. I hope yours is filled with sleep, unlike mine."

Adrien chuckled. "Thanks, Alya."

"No problem. Now, we've all said everything we needed to. Can we _please_ go back to bed, Marinette?"

Marinette's gaze, which had briefly focused somewhere away from her phone to look at Alya in amusement, snapped back to Adrien. He nodded at her.

"I mean, I guess?" Marinette said. "Unless you want us to stay up, Adrien, I know you aren't a huge fan of your father's parties…"

Adrien shook his head. "I'm not, but I should go do the rounds before I go to bed myself. Besides, I think Alya may murder you if you don't let her go back to sleep."

"He's right," Alya agreed in the background. "I will." Marinette rolled her eyes before yawning again.

"Go back to bed, Marinette," Adrien said gently, causing Marinette to nod lazily.

"Mmkay," she agreed. "But I'm glad we managed to call you. Didn't-" she yawned again, "-didn't want you to think we didn't care." Marinette blinked sleepily, clearly fighting back another yawn. "Wish you'd been here tonight," she said carelessly. "I miss you."

Adrien's eyebrows shot up, and Marinette seemed to hear the words at the same time he did. Her face went bright red, and with a squeak she began to babble.

"Anyway, have a good time in New York and we'll see you soon," she said rapidly. "OkayHappyNewYearbyenowAdrien!"

The last thing Adrien heard before Marinette ended the call was Alya's burst of laughter, and he frowned in utter confusion before he let out a chuckle. He sent a quick text to Marinette before heading back down to the party, feeling exceptionally better about the year ahead. He had wonderful people waiting for him when he got home – what more could he ask for?

* * *

In Marinette's bedroom, the girl in question was lying sideways on the floor, staring at her phone in shock, her face flaming red as an exhausted Alya patted her on the head.

The unmistakeable _beep_ of an incoming text broke the silence between them, and Marinette's eyes widened as she read the text Adrien had sent her.

 _Thanks for the call, it really meant a lot to me. I wish I'd been there tonight, too – I miss you too, and can't wait to see you when I get back to Paris. Happy New Year xxx_

Marinette screamed.


	34. Things you said when you were crying

"I just… I can't believe it," Ladybug said, shaking her head as she took a deep breath, steadying herself against the wall of the alley they'd fled into. She pressed her hand against the rough bricks, tiny brown flecks crumbling beneath her fingertips as she leaned heavily on the wall for support. "Gabriel Agreste. Gabriel Agreste is _Hawkmoth_."

Silence met her words, and Ladybug instantly knew something was wrong when Chat Noir didn't respond. She turned around to face her partner, and her eyes widened in shock.

"Chat!" Ladybug took a step towards her partner, who was shaking as he slid down against the wall she had just been leaning on. "Chat, what's wrong?"

He said nothing; his only response was to press his head into his hands, elbows resting on his knees as he curled into himself. Ladybug threw herself down in front of him, eyes wide with panic as dry sobs began to slip through Chat Noir's palms, his whole body trembling as the sobs wracked his frame.

"Chat?" Ladybug's voice was gentle, tense, as she knelt by him, reaching forward to place a hand against Chat's forearm. "Talk to me, please. _Chat."_

Chat Noir still didn't reply, his entire being consumed with the cause of his tears. Ladybug released his arm, and, after quickly checking that there was nobody else lurking in the alley, moved to sit by his side. When she'd re-positioned herself, Ladybug wrapped one arm around her friend, pulling him to her and resting her head on his shoulder. It felt like too small a gesture, but Ladybug didn't know what else she could offer her partner.

It seemed to give Chat Noir some comfort, at least; he leaned into Ladybug's embrace, and she rubbed the top of his arm in a soothing manner. Eventually, the shaking of his body stopped, and soon Chat Noir's shoulders began to rise and fall as he took slow, deep breaths.

He lifted his head out of his hands, turning his head to look at Ladybug. Concern lined her face, and she squeezed Chat tightly as she lifted her head to look at him. His eyes were bloodshot, visible even beneath the emerald colouring of his mask, and tears had leaked out of the tightly fitting mask to slide down his cheeks in thin rivers.

"Chat Noir?" Ladybug asked, the words filled with worry.

Chat Noir took a shaky breath, squeezing his eyes shut as if the next words physically hurt him.

"He's my father," he said, his voice thick and trembling. "Hawkmoth is my father."


	35. Destiny - it's unpredictable

"The thing about destiny, kids, is that it's unpredictable! You can plan and plan and plan, and sometimes..." the magician tried to twist the key in the handcuffs one more time, to no avail. He sighed. "Sometimes, it just won't work."

Adrien and Marinette glared at him, their faces scarlet as the crowd of children sighed dreamily at the magician's words. Well, some of them did. Most of the kids looked bored out of their minds as the magician's trick clearly continued to fail.

"But!" The magician exclaimed, pointing the key to the sky dramatically as he placed his other hand on his hip. Some of the children perked up, certain that this was all part of the magic. "Destiny is also up to you, if you know what you're doing. And, kids, reading can help you control your destiny. For example, I'm going to have a quick read of this… magic book… to call a _magical locksmith_ so that he can release these two… star crossed lovers here… from the literal chains of destiny."

" _Chains of destiny?_ " Marinette hissed, just loudly enough to make the magician wince at the unbridled irritation in her voice. Adrien let out a snort, leaning over to murmur in Marinette's ear.

"Sounds a bit too kinky for a kid's show, doesn't it?" he whispered. In a feat Adrien didn't think was possible, Marinette's face reddened further. She instinctively raised her hands to cover her scarlet cheeks, forgetting for a split second that she was handcuffed to her crush, and succeeded in smacking the back of Adrien's hand against her own.

"Sorry!" They cried in unison, their eyes meeting for the whole of two seconds before they snapped their gazes back to the somewhat-amused magician. Marinette took a step back, adding a little distance between her and her crush.

Marinette looked into the crowd of children, spotting two faces in the mass who were enjoying the situation far too much. Manon was grinning widely, and waggled her fingers at the handcuffed Marinette. Next to her, Alya's youngest sister raised her phone and unashamedly snapped a picture of the situation.

Marinette let out a sigh. Any chance of keeping this little mishap quiet was now impossible.

"You okay?" Adrien murmured, looking down as Marinette's shoulders drooped. Her eyes widened as she realised he'd heard her sound of discontent, and she began to flap her free hand at him rapidly.

"Oh, yeah! I'm fine," she said. "Just, you know. Being handcuffed in front of a bunch of kids isn't really how I expected today to go..."

Adrien chuckled. "Yeah. Me neither." He paused, before breaking into a grin. "Want to get revenge when we're released?"

With her free hand, Marinette tugged at her pigtail nervously.

"What did you have in mind?" she said, keeping her voice low.

Adrien thought for a moment, turning his gaze back to the magician who was currently speaking rapidly into his phone. "Well," Adrien said slowly, "if destiny is unpredictable, maybe it's his destiny to be handcuffed to-"

"Boys and girls!" The magician exclaimed, walking over to the increasingly bored group of children, who perked up at the performer's voice. "Whilst we're waiting for the, uh, breaker of chains, we're going to have a quick chat to our fated couple here."

" _Fated couple?"_ Marinette squeaked, both her and Adrien reddening in unison as the magician stepped between them and flung an arm around each of them.

"So why are you here, young sir?" the magician asked Adrien, talking over Marinette. Adrien looked at him in confusion, before turning to face the children.

"Uh, my friend was ill, so she asked me to bring her sister so she didn't miss the party..." he replied, causing Alya's sister to stick her hand in the air and wave wildly.

"That's me!" she called out happily.

"Wait, Alya's ill?" Marinette asked, confused; she'd only been speaking to her friend an hour or so ago, talking about the upcoming party neither really wanted to attend.

Adrien nodded, turning to face Marinette. "Yeah, she didn't tell you? She's caught some kind of bug, and asked me to babysit. She said you'd be here so I wouldn't be on my own..."

"How nice!" The magician interrupted. "So what brings you to the party, ma'am?"

Marinette blinked twice, the realisation that Alya was now using her little sister as a matchmaking tool sinking in, before answering. "I, uh, I'm also babysitting. Manon. I'm babysitting Manon," she said, pointing her hand into the crowd, accidentally jerking Adrien's hand forward as well. Manon stood up, revelling in the attention of her peers as they followed Marinette's finger.

"How nice!" the magician said enthusiastically, ignoring the confusion on Marinette's face. "Now, you two go stand to the side so I can do my next trick. When the chain breaker comes, let him know what you need and he'll get you sorted out. Who's ready for my next trick?" he asked the children, who all cheered, Marinette and Adrien's predicament forgotten about. The magician moved to his box of tricks and Adrien shrugged, motioning to the food table at the side of the garden with his head.

"Shall we?" he asked quietly. Marinette nodded, and the pair moved silently to the side, Adrien swiping a cookie from the table as they walked past.

Standing by the garden fence, Marinette gave Adrien a small smile as he took a bite from the cookie.

"'S good," he said, before winking at Marinette. "Not as good as yours though."

Marinette's blush, which had barely faded since the 'fated lovers' comment, flared back up.

"Thanks," she said, her voice higher than usual. "So, what were you saying about revenge?" she asked, in a desperate attempt to move the conversation on so that her blush could die down.

"Oh, right," Adrien replied, a wicked glimmer in his emerald eyes. "Here's what I'm thinking..."

He took a step closer, leaning his head down to whisper in Marinette's ear. She kept her eyes focused on the flaking paint on the shed behind them as he spoke to keep her breath even, desperately hoping Adrien couldn't hear her heart thudding loudly as he talked her through his plan. Soon, however, she was paying attention to his words, her shy smile breaking into a mischievous smirk.

And that was how the locksmith found them, huddled together at the side of the garden, snickering at a plan they knew they were never going to execute, but enjoyed the thought of nonetheless.

It was a real shame he had to interrupt them, the locksmith thought as he carefully moved around the mass of children staring in awe at the rabbit which had just come out of a previously empty hat.

They were a cute couple.


	36. Things you said on the Metro at 1 am

They caught the last metro of the night, adrenaline pumping through them as they jumped through the sliding doors. Adrien's hand shot out to clutch Marinette's arm tightly, holding her steady when she stumbled in the moving carriage.

"You okay?" he said, releasing her as she moved to grip the silver pole in the centre of the carriage, steadying herself against it and nodding firmly.

"Yeah." Marinette's voice was hoarse, her eyes wide and sparkling in the lights which buzzed in the carriage. "Yeah, I just can't believe we made it."

The train already began to stall to a halt; one stop down. Adrien took a step closer to Marinette, wrapping his own hand just above where hers was curled around the pole tightly. "Well, we got there just in time. A few seconds later and we'd have been walking home," he said with a laugh.

Marinette pulled herself around the pole to face him, using her free hand to flick him on the chest. "I'm still mad at you for making me run in heels," she grumbled, eyes darting to the black kitten heels which rubbed painfully against her feet, even when standing still.

"I offered to carry you."

"I didn't think you were _serious."_

"Well, that's on you then," Adrien said with a laugh. He could just about hear the huff Marinette let out over the metro's soft rumbling. "Tell you what, when we get off I'll give you a piggyback the rest of the way home."

The metro drew to a halt once more, and, as the doors slid open again, a giant image of fourteen-year-old Adrien's face greeted at the duo, winking at them with gusto. Marinette clapped a hand to her mouth whilst Adrien visibly winced at the poster. A couple of the other weary passengers noticed Marinette's poor attempt at holding back her giggles of surprise, and their eyes widened as they realised that the boy plastered on the wall was currently in a staring contest with his older, live counterpart. The doors began to shut, too slowly in Adrien's opinion, and when the train finally started to crawl towards the next station, picking up speed with each passing second, he let out a sigh.

"Is there a reason your company is using images of you from five years ago?" Marinette asked. Adrien rolled his eyes, the hand not gripping the pole moving to rest on his hip as he shook his head.

" _Nostalgia,"_ he replied. Marinette raised her eyebrows, biting back another grin.

"I'm sorry, nostalgia?" The remnants of laughter lace her words, and Adrien couldn't help but smile too.

"It's the new cologne the company's producing. They thought it would be more… well, nostalgic, to use old pictures of me than to hire another model." The metro began to slow again, and it was with some relief that Adrien saw that there was no poster on the wall.

"Must be cheaper, too," Marinette murmured.

"That did play a rather significant part in the decision." Adrien's dry tone drew another laugh out of Marinette, earning them a few glares from passengers who would have rather made their late-night commute in silence. The doors closed once more, and Adrien pointed with his chin at the map of the stops which rested just above the doors.

"We're the next one," he said, desperate to move the conversation away from the poster which, he knew, he was never going to hear the end of. "I wasn't kidding about that piggyback, you know; if your feet hurt that much, it's not a long way to your house."

Marinette paused, considering the offer, and Adrien knew she was going to say yes purely from the amount of time she took to respond; it was less a matter of _if_ , and more a matter of _when_ she would be comfortable with him carrying her on his back.

"Let me see how I feel when we're out of the station," she said slowly. "It might be okay until I get home." Adrien nodded, turning to face the doors as the metro ground to a halt. He let go of the pole, offering his hand to Marinette. She smiled, placed her hand in Adrien's, and then winced as she took a step. The doors slid open, and they exited as slowly as they could, Marinette's shoes causing ripples of pain through her heels with each step.

The walk through the station was surprisingly quick; Marinette took the approach that if each step was going to hurt, then moving faster would get it over with sooner. Adrien kept pace with her, and before he knew it – how Marinette moved so swiftly in heels, he would never understand – they were at the station's entrance, and Marinette was kicking off her shoes as she groaned in relief.

Adrien blinked in concern. "Uh, Mari? Your tights are going to get dirty if you do that…"

She released his hand and bent down to pick the shoes up in one fell swoop. "I know. It's worth it," she said. Shifting her bag more firmly onto her shoulder as she straightened up, Marinette turned to looked at Adrien, the lights of the streetlamps drowning him in a streak of brightness. "Is that piggyback still an option?" she asked hesitantly, a bashful look which Adrien was no longer used to crossing her face.

He didn't answer; he simply turned around and bent his knees so that he was low enough for her to jump on. There were a few seconds of uncertainty, when Marinette debated whether it was a good idea or not, before Adrien felt Marinette's hands grip his shoulders.

"One… two… three!" he called, locking his arms under Marinette's thighs as she jumped onto his back. Once he was certain she was secure, her arms wrapped firmly across his chest, Adrien stood up fully and began the walk back. Marinette pressed a kiss to his temple, her shoes bouncing gently against his shoulder as he walked.

"Thanks, _mon minou,"_ Marinette whispered, resting her head in the crook of Adrien's neck. He smiled.

"Anything for you, Princess."


	37. Why did you lick that?

"Why did you lick that?" Marinette asked, exasperation colouring her voice as she whisked the wooden spoon out of Adrien's hand and moved towards the sink.

"Why not?" Adrien looked at his now empty palm. "It tastes _amazing._ And I thought you were meant to try the food before you serve it."

Marinette turned on the tap, hastily scrubbing the remnants of cake mixture off the spoon with a soapy cloth and rinsing off the residue. "Well, yes," she agreed, "but not before the food is cooked, and _definitely_ not when the spoon in question is still in use. I know you and Nino are close, but having your saliva as the secret ingredient in his birthday cake might be taking your friendship to the next level."

"I thought we had finished baking?" Adrien turned his back on the now-empty bowls which had previously held the ingredients, leaning against the countertop whilst rubbing his hand, now sticky with a dollop of mixture that had dripped off the spoon onto the side of his thumb, on his apron. "And no need to be jealous, Princess – if I ever leave you for Nino, I promise I'll be honest about it. No sneaky cake ingredients, just the truth." Marinette looked over her shoulder, grinning as she rolled her eyes.

"How kind of you. The chocolate chips still need to be added, _chaton_."

Adrien spun round, scanning the countertop to see one small bowl still full. "Oh."

"Pour them in while I grab a new spoon; this one will need to dry off."

Adrien carefully took the bowl of the chocolate chips, which had started to melt in the warmth of the kitchen combined with the summer heat, and tipped them into the cake mixture. He heard the drawer slide open and shut again as Marinette grabbed a replacement spoon, and outstretched a hand behind his back as though in a relay race. Marinette pressed the spoon into his waiting hand, and placed a spatula on the counter, before moving to Adrien's side and wrapping her arms around his waist. Instinctively, Adrien responded in kind, pulling her into a one-armed hug as he valiantly attempted to mix in the chocolate chips with a single hand at the same time. The bowl spun slowly as Adrien stirred, causing Marinette to remove an arm from the embrace and hold it steady.

When Adrien had finished mixing, Marinette leaned up to press a kiss against his cheek; the flour dusting her apron clung to the side of Adrien's clothes as she did so, leaving speckles of white on his black t-shirt. "Good job. Now we just need to pour it into the tins and bake it!"

"Excellent. But does that mean I have to stop hugging you?"

"For now, yes."

Adrien let out a sigh, placing his free hand on his heart and taking a step back. "You say it so easily. No wonder I'm leaving you for Nino."

The laugh Marinette let out was music. "Well, at least Alya and I will be able to wallow about the situation together."

"See? There's always a silver lining."

Marinette shook her head with a smile, taking hold of the bowl and moving to where two lined cake tins sat by the oven. "In the meantime, I'll pour the mixture into the tins if you want to get the ingredients for the icing measured out."

Adrien saluted. "Your wish is my command, Princess. But what's the spatula for?"

"That's so you can lick the bowl once I've poured out the mixture, now that we've _actually_ finished baking," Marinette said with a wink. Adrien's face lit up as he snatched up the spatula and held it to his chest with both hands. Both of Marinette's eyebrows shot up, but she couldn't help but smile at his enthusiasm.

"Heaven help us when we start making the icing," was her only reply.


End file.
